The Return of the Dark One part 2
by Talonclawfange
Summary: Link finally gets home from the ocean, but some unpleasant things happened while he was gone, and he gets blamed for them! Can he prove he's innocent, as well as find the person who created the violent storms and sent the assasin after him? pg13violence
1. The Return of the Dark One part 2: 1,2

buThe Return of the Dark One/u/b  
  
By: Sonnet A.K.A. Talonclawfange  
  
( E-mail me at Talonofdayyahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. Oh yeah, and Kai-ten-giri belongs to Akira Himekawa who wrote some totally awsome Zelda manga. The only things I own are the Soku Tree, Chain, Sohran, Calwots and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and, recently, writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!   
  
Note: This story is separated into two parts because it is so long! The first part is 40 pages long and the second is 43. This story takes place after my other stories, which are: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, Duels and Dragons, Hunt for the Dragonlord, The War of the Kings, and The Song of the Siren's Shell, so you probably want to read them first or you'll be a little confused. It's somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and blood. Enjoy!  
  
ibPart Two/b/i  
  
buSection 1  
  
Reko's Cave, Home Again/u/b  
  
"Watch ouuuut!" Sohran yelled. The sea dragon-leviathan he was riding on, Eucheso, and the one Link was riding on, Yavatan, were swimming at an amazing speed. They were headed straight toward the cliffs of Ganon's Swamp, where the sea griffons lived, and it looked like they were going to smash into them.  
  
"bHold on, Hylians!/b" Eucheso yelled, and he and Yavatan put on the breaks. Amazingly, Yavatan and Eucheso were able to stop before they hit the cliffs. Unfortunately, Link, Sohran, and the unconscious Feelock (Feelock had been KOed by a mental shock on the island him and the Hylians were returning from) went sailing off the heads of the two dragon-leviathans, flying right over the cliffs. The tops of the cliffs were grassy and smooth, and the two humans-turned-projectiles slid to a stop on the grass, wet from the damp sea air. Link groaned as Feelock's unmoving form landed right on top of him. iWell, at least I cusioned his fall,/i Link thought. He and Sohran sat up and saw a huge wall of water coming for them. An enormous wave from Yavatan and Eucheso stopping quckly washed over Link, Sohran and Feelock, going far beyond them to nicely water the half-dead swamp trees behind them.  
  
"bOops...sorry, humans./b" Yavatan said, looking at Eucheso. They started laughing. Link glared at them irritably, then lightened up.  
  
"Well, thanks very much for taking us here. Say 'hi' to Remorie for us!" The giant water dragons nodded, then left without a word, swimming away even faster than they had come because they were submerged. "Well, that was fun...sort of." Link said to Sohran.  
  
"Yeah, it was exhilerating at first, but after an hour or two you start to think your head is going to get blown off." Sohran replied. It had taken about twelve hours to cross the sea on the dragon-leviathans, which was much shorter than the seven days it had taken Link to get across it the first time. The sun was setting, and Link's gazed at its beauty.  
  
"Well, I say we sleep here tonight and worry about crossing the swamp tomorrow. It's probably more dangerous at night," Link said, yawning.  
  
"Good idea. Maybe we can find a tree to sleep in..."  
  
"Um, no. My friend Cyphas slept in a swamp tree and it didn't turn out well. There are tons of caves in these cliffs, maybe we can find one that doesn't have a sea griffon in it." Just then, a sea griffon flew up and landed on the cliff in front of Link, Sohran, and the still uncounscious Feelock.  
  
"Wow, Hylians! Did you guys cause that huge wave?" The griffon asked. It had a grey bird half and a dark blue cat half. Its long tail was bear except for a long, feathery tuft at the tip. It was about the size of a horse and a half, and had deep purple eyes.  
  
"We didn't cause them directly, but some big water dragons we were riding on stopped very close to the cliffs. Sorry about that." Sohran said.  
  
"Oh, it's okay. I was going to clean my cave anyway. Say, you guys look washed up...need a place to stay?" iWhat is it with my luck? I wish for a cave and this happens! Too wierd,/i Link thought. But, he was really quite tired of taking advantage of creatures.  
  
"Naw, we don't need to take up space in your cave. We'll find an empty one..." Link said, turning away.  
  
"No, no! It would be great to have you in my cave! My daughter has always wanted to see a Hylian, so you'll be doing me a great favor. Pleeeease stay in my cave? Pleeeasee?" The griffon asked loudly.  
  
"....Well, okay. If you really want us to." Link said. "But, you have to allow me to catch dinner for you."   
  
"Really? What a cool Hylian! You can catch me dinner any time you want, buddy! Just get on my back, and your friend too...hey, what's that?" The griffon pointed at Feelock.  
  
"He's our friend, a calwot. He got knocked unconscious last night, but he's okay." Link said, picking up the limp cat.  
  
"Okay, put him on my back, too. I'll just cast a strength spell on myself and I'll easily be able to carry you all." After everyone was on the sea griffon, he chanted a quick strength spell and took off, flying smoothly along the cliffs, searching for his cave. "Hey, everyone! A sea dragon caused the wave and is gone, so it's nothing to worry about!" The griffon called. Aparently he had been sent out to investigate the cause of the big wave. "By the way, my name is Reko." The griffon said, diving shallowly toward a hole in the cliffs.  
  
"Oh, how rude of us! My name is Link."   
  
"I'm Sohran. We're both Royal Guards from Hyrule Castle."   
  
"How interesting! My daughter will probably love to hear a few war stories. Maybe my mate too, I don't know." Reko and his passengers entered the cave, which was pretty roomy and could easily hold a family of three griffons. The griffon landed gracefully, and Link and Sohran saw two griffons sitting by a fire in the middle of the cave. They dismounted and walked with Reko the the griffons.  
  
"I'm back, and guess what I brought! Two Hylians and a cowbot!"  
  
"Eh, calwot," Sohran said quietly.  
  
"Oh, yeah! I mean calwot. This Hylian is Sohran, that Hylian is Link, and the unconscious thing is Feelock."  
  
"Nice to meet you!" The smaller of the two griffons said. She was the size of a wild cat or wolfos.   
  
"Welcome." The larger said. She was the same size as Reko.  
  
"Hylians, this is my mate, Unia." Reko said, pointing at the larger griffon. She had a white bird half with dark blue-tipped feathers, a black cat half, and bright blue eyes. Her long tail was completely covered with silky, long fur.   
  
"...And this is my daughter, Kosi." The small griffon had a black bird half with a faint speckling of light blue, with cloudy grey haunches. Her bushy tail twitched exitedly and her purple eyes gleamed. "Wow, Hylians! Hey, they're kinda puny, aren't they?"  
  
"Watch who your callin' puny, smallfry!" Reko said, waving the tip of his tail in his daughter's face to irritate her. Link put Feelock down at a comfortable distance from the fire, and Sohran sat next to the calwot.  
  
"Hey, aren't you the Hylian that released the sea snakes from Kadien and ended the starvation of our race not too long ago? After that incident we learned to eat things other than sea gulls and sea snakes, but back then they were the only things we ate. That was you, wasn't it, Link?" Unia asked.  
  
"Yeah. I'm glad you guys have learned to eat other things. That's healthier anyway." Link said.  
  
"What an honor to have you in our cave! Thank you for what you did," Reko said.  
  
"Eh, ...don't mention it. What do you griffons want for dinner?" Link asked, looking around at them.  
  
"Clams sound good." Unia suggested, smiling.  
  
"With fried cidid on the side!" Kosi said hungrily.  
  
"Thats fine with me." Reko said, handing Link a net that had been sitting in the corner. "This might come in handy."  
  
"Thanks. See you in a few minutes," Link said. Giant clams and cidids were very comonly found next to shore, so he knew it wouldn't take long. He walked out to the lip of the cave, gazing down at the ocean hundreds of feet below. Using his hookshot on the cliff face, he got down to about fifteen feet above the water and dived in, putting on his zora tunic. He put on his iron boots and sunk about fifty feet to the rocky bottom of the water. After walking around a bit, he spotted eight or nine giant clams sitting between two rocks. Each clam was about the size of a three-year-old child. One sensed Link coming and snapped open. It swam at him, biting angrily (giant clams are quite aggressive). Link put an end to its snapping with his hookshot, which woke up the other clams. Blocking clams with his shield and killing them with his hookshot, he managed to get them all before getting bitten. He put them all in the net, and dragged it with him as he kept walking. He froze as he saw a sea snake swimming towards him. Luckily the snake was not in the mood to fight, and swam right past Link. He continued, and quickly found a pack of about thirty cidids (small, brightly colored, hand-sized ocean insects) hiding in the shadow of a rock. Though it was hard to see them at sunset beneath fifty feet of water, they spotted Link instantly, and tried to attack him. Link simply raised the net and caught them all, figuring the griffons could kill them themselves.   
  
Link took off his boots but the net was weighing him down, so he had to swim strongly to reach the surface and use his hookshot. He was soon back in Reko's cave, and walked over to the fire, putting the net full of dead clams and squirming cidids next to the fire. Everyone dug in, the griffons eating their clams and cidids raw.  
  
"Be careful of the paralyzing stinger on your cidid, honey. Us griffons are immuned to it mostly, but if a young one like yourself bites right on the stinger, it'll hurt!" Reko said. Kosi nodded. Link and Sohran cooked their clams and didn't eat any cidids, because even a small bite would have them poisoned with the paralyzing fluid in the stinger. Link had been stung once, and it was not pleasant.  
  
After a few minutes Link moved over next to Feelock, and tried to rouse the sleeping cat, but it didn't work. Link just hoped the cat woke up before he started getting weak from lack of nourishment. When the meal was finished, Kosi started eagerly asking Link and Sohran questions, which they were happy to answer. She asked about life in Hyrule Castle, other Hylians, Hylian females, and mountain griffons. She asked about many other things as well, but it was getting late and Reko soon cut off his daughter's questions, declaring it was time to sleep. Only one more question was asked, this time by Unia.  
  
"How do you two plan to get back to Hyrule? Us griffons can't help you because tomorrow we have an all-griffon festival that lasts all day, and attendence is mandatory. Every sea griffon in Tecavesea will attend."  
  
"We'll just cross the swamp. Don't worry, I've crossed it before and I have friends in the swamp. We'll be fine." Link said. "What's Tecavsea?"  
  
"That's the name of our community of caves. Kozin the King named it, of course. Goodnight, Link and Sohran." Everyone went to bed then, in the cave which was magically heated to stay at a nice temparature after the fire was put out. Everyone slept well, to the relaxing sound of crashing waves.  
  
i-Yes! Finally, the keys are mine. It will be a simple task to get what I want now, and the only one who can stop me is days away. What? The old man is stirring in his bed as I put the keys in my pocket...curses, he's awake. Getting his sword? So the ugly old man wants to fight me, very funny. It's too bad, though, I was going to kill him while he slept...oh well, I can kill him now. I draw my Master Sword look-alike and prepare to do him in. I will enjoy this.-/i  
  
"Thanks again for letting us stay in your cave," Link said. He and Sohran were standing next to uncouncious Feelock at the top of the cliffs, bidding farewell to Reko. The sun was about to rise, and the sea griffon and his family would soon go to their festival.  
  
"Thank iyou/i. I don't know if my daughter would ever meet a Hylian if you two hadn't come along, and she's been bothering me about it since we formed an alliance with Hyrule! It was very annoying, so thank you. Take care of yourselves."  
  
"Same to you. Have fun at your festival, Reko," Sohran said. The sea griffon shook hands with the Hylians, then dove off the cliff to go wake his family. Link kneeled next to Feelock, wondering when the poor cat would wake up.  
  
"This guy needs some nutrition...maybe we can get him to drink?" Link said, looking up at Sohran.  
  
"Well, it's worth a try. Maybe some water will rouse him. Here." Sohran handed Link water in a glass bottle, and Link poured some on the calwot's snout. He didn't move, so Link opened the cat's mouth and poured a bit of water in there. To his and Sohran's surprise, Feelock's mouth twitched a bit, and then closed.   
  
"Hey! He's waking up..." The two Hylians waited expectantly, but the black calwot made no further movements. Link shook the cat's shoulder a bit and called his name, but still the calwot was motionless.  
  
"Link, why don't you pet him? I had a cat once and that always woke it up." Link gave Sohran a wierd look.  
  
"He's not a housecat, and he'll probably be insulted. He used to be a King, you know."  
  
"Yes, but he's still a feline. Just try it." Link wondered why Sohran didn't try it if he was so confident it would work, but didn't say anything. Maybe it would work. He rubbed behind Feelock's ears, something the old hag in the potion shop's cat had always liked. Link and Sohran laughed quietly as Feelock smiled and began to purr. Suddenly his eyes snapped open, and Link pulled his hand away. Feelock gave him a surprised look.  
  
"Link? What are you doing here? Were you just scratching my ears?" His look of surprise turned to indignant irritation.  
  
"Um, yeah...it woke you up, didn't it?" Link said. Feelock gave him a sour face.  
  
"I'm not a domesticated kitten, Link. But, enough of anger. It is good to see you! But, I wonder why I'm seeing you. The last thing I remember was being in a cave in the Stalfos Swords. I had just decided to do something constructive with my life and thank you for defeating me when I was being foolish. I was going to change my armor to something a little more benevolent looking when I felt this strange prescence in my mind...and now I'm here!" The calwot sat up and looked around, rubbing his aching head. "Where iis/i here? And why does my head hurt?"  
  
"It's a long story...we can tell you on our way through the swamp." Sohran suggested. He offered Feelock a hand and the cat took it, standing up.  
  
"I'm Sohran, by the way." Sohran said, and he and the calwot shook eachother's hand before releasing them.  
  
"Why are we going through a swamp? Does it lead back to my village, Catalin?" Feelock asked, once again looking around.   
  
"Yes, and it will take at least two or three days to cross, so we should get started...but wait." Link pulled a leather bag off his shoulder. It had some dried clam in it. "You must be starving, Feelock. Eat some of this." Link handed the cat some food, which he quickly ate. He also accepted some water Link handed him.  
  
"Thank you, that hit the spot," Feelock said, giving Link the empty bottle. "We don't have to go the slow way, Hylians. I am a flying, magic-using calwot, remember? I can cast a haste and strength spell on myself and carry you two over the swamp. It's way faster than walking!"  
  
"Really? We'll be in Hyrule by this afternoon if we fly!" Link exclaimed.  
  
"Well then, you two guide me and tell me your story as we go, agreed?" Link and Sohran nodded, and Feelock quickly cast two spells on himself and picked up Link and Sohran (size wasn't a problem, since the cat was easily two feet taller then Link, over a foot taller than Sohran, and very fit). He then opened his sleek black bird wings and took off. Soon the three of them were soaring high over Ganon's Swamp, straight toward Hyrule. They saw some fog in the distance, so Feelock, with his amazing magical talents, cast some breathing spells on the three of them and climbed to a very high altitude (Link was horribly afraid of being that high, but managed to keep himself from complaining) that would carry them far over the mist. Link and Sohran then proceeded to tell Feelock what had happened to him.   
  
All day the three soared thousands of feet above the swamp, talking and admiring the beauty of the half-shrouded land far below (or just staring straight ahead for fear of heights, in Link's case). Link and Sohran were getting sick of traveling so much, but were encouraged whenever they thought of the fact that they would be back in Hyrule soon. It should have been very uncomfortable to get carried by a strong, metal-coated arm of a calwot, but miraculously Link and Sohran didn't get sore. More of Feelock's magic, no doubt. He was a very good sorcerer. When the sun began to slip behind the distant horizon and the calwot and Hylians left the misty swamp behind, they found themselves flying over Hyrule. Feelock began to decend slowly, careful not to go too fast or the quick change of pressure might hurt his long-eared Hylian passengers. The experienced flyer landed smoothly in front of Hyrule Castle, putting Link and Sohran down.  
  
Section 2  
  
Chasing a Sword Thief  
  
"Well, I'm really glad that's over!" Link said, and Sohran nodded. "Anyway, thanks for flying us over here, Feelock. Are you going back to Catalin?"  
  
"Yes, I have a few things to do. I suppose I'll see you two some other time." Smiling warmly and waving to the Hylians, the large calwot reopened his wings and leaped into the air, instantly catching the wind and gliding to the north and the Stalfos Swords (Catalin is in those mountains).   
  
"Man, the first thing I'm doing is taking a shower! I stink from all that running around two nights ago..." Sohran said as the two Hylians walked over to the castle, which was separated from Royal Field by a moat and short, flat, wood bridge over it. The Hylians walked across the bridge, which led to the huge, wooden, studded steel doors on the north side of the castle, and Link shoved one open. There were only a few guards standing around inside, so obviously Link and Sohran had not been expected. Link and Sohran came in and closed the great door behind them. One idle Royal Guardsman turned and saw Link as he apprached, and the soldier gasped in surprise. The following confusion baffled the Hero of Time.  
  
"It's Link! Hey, LINK'S HERE!" The guard yelled, and about two dozen guards who had been standing around somewhere ran to Link and surrounded him, pointing their spears at his neck. "Don't move, Link! We have orders to do whatever is necessary to capture you!"  
  
"W-what? Did I miss something?" Link stopped and put his arms up to show submission. "Some welcome this is..."  
  
"Hey, why are you guys doing that? Me and Link just got home and you start threatening him?" Sohran turned to the one with the highest rank. "Explain yourself!"  
  
"Yes, sir! It's a good thing you're home sir, and a very good thing you caught this stinking traitor! He's to be put in the dungeons at once!"  
  
"What? I didn't do anything, what do you mean I'm supposed to go to the dungeon?" Link asked, perplexed.  
  
"Silence, you murderous traitor!" A soldier said, poking him lightly.  
  
"I would never betray Hyrule!" Link protested, glaring at the soldier. He was beginning to get irritated.  
  
"Oh yeah? What do you call injuring twenty-one guards, stealing the royal keys, pushing the princess, and trying to ikill/i the King?"  
  
"WHAT?!" Link was outraged. He was about to nicely explain to the soldier that what he had just said was completely ridiculous, but the rest of the Royal Guards' spears all got a little closer to his neck and he restrained himself.  
  
"Have you all gone imad?!/i Link is the Hero of Time, you idiots! He would never do those things, and we've been gone for over ten days!" Sohran growled. He and some guards began shouting at eachother, and Link saw someone standing far behind them, under the archway that led to the courtyard. It was Zelda. Link was tremendously happy to see her, because he had been worrying about what the 'Dark One' had said about being in Hyrule. That meant he could harm the Princess, but she looked fine. At least, physically. The look on her face said she was not fine. Even from a distance, Link could see her pretty features twisted with many different emotions. She looked slightly happy, but also terribly sad and frightened.  
  
"Zelda!" He called, trying to get a reaction from her. He got one, which was the princess turning and running. iWow, whatever happened, even Zelda wont talk to me. But I didn't do anything, so what the heck's going on? Whatever I do, I can't run or fight because that will make everyone think I'm guilty of doing everything that guard just said. What can I do? /i  
  
Link was getting a little worried. These guards seemed to be serious, and Link knew very well what the penalty for trying to kill the King was. The only things he could do was try to convince eveyone he hadn't done it, or run and be outcast from Hyrule forever. Hyrule was his destiny. He couldn't just leave it.   
  
"I tell you, Link hasn't done one single bad thing while I've been with him, you're all crazy!" Sohran screamed at the highest-rank soldier.  
  
"Sir Sohran, if you try to stop us you'll be incarcerated too! Link will have a chance to defend himself tomorrow. Right now, we're taking him down." Sohran looked really mad, then got an alarmed look on his face as he glanced behind Link. "Hey, what are you doing? Link, watch out!" Confusion and being at spearpoint kept Link from moving, and a rag wet with some foul-smelling fluid was pressed against his face. Imediately, he thought someone was throwing him into a deep pit, and felt a falling sensation.  
  
"He's too dangerous to be transported consciously..." Some voice said, sounding far away in the darkness enveloping Link.  
  
Link heard a voice, calling his name. It wasn't very clear, and Link couldn't recognize the voice for another few minutes. He heard the voice clearly just as his eyes began to focus and he felt cold stone beneath him.  
  
"Link? Oh, thank goodness. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up! But I had complete confidence that I, The Great Taig, could wake you." A horse-sized young red dragon sat outside Link's cell, tail thrashing impatiently. Link sat up, groaning and holding his pounding head. "Hm, are you okay, Link? You look kinda sick." Link looked around, discovering himself in one of the stone cells below Hyrule castle. It was dark except for a few magical torches, and had close bars and stone walls sealing it off from everything. Link sighed, he hated being in cells. But it sure was happening a lot lately. He quickly found out that all of his items and weapons had been taken from him, which was, of course, no surprise.  
  
"I'm okay...hey Taig, its great to see you! Can you tell me what on earth is going on?" Link asked, standing up and facing the dragon prince. Taig jumped excitedly to his feet.  
  
"I don't think you did it, Link! It's a big fat lie! You didn't do any horrible things last night!" Taig growled, smoke trailing from his red nostrils. "Whoever's framing you will be burnt to a thousand little ashes by the flames of the Great Taig!!" Taig shot a blast of flame straight up, turning the stone above him bright red. The dragon turned his head back to Link.  
  
"What exactly does everyone think I did? Someone said I stole some keys and hurt soldiers or something..." Link said, not quite remembering everything that had happened to him before he was knocked out.  
  
"Yeah, I just got here this afternoon to visit you and a Royal Guard told me this ridiculous story! Supposedly, you knocked out several guards in order to reach the King's quarters. Then you stole the castle keys, which are keys to all the locks in the castle, like into forbidden passages and the waterways below. Then the idiot told me that the King woke up and you did battle with him. The King gave you a slash on the arm and you tried to cut his head off. If he hadn't backed up, you would have suceeded, but you did succeed in putting a large laceration on his neck. You then proceeded to stab his lower left shoulder deeply, nearly cutting his heart and killing him, while pinning himto the ground with a boot on his neck. Reinforcements came and you pushed Zelda and injured about twenty guards before escaping the castle. But you didn't do it, Link! I know you didn't, did you?" Taig stopped raving, looking at Link hopefully.  
  
"Of course not, I would never. That story appalls me! I have no idea what's going on here, but I hope I get the chance to talk to the King soon, and tell him this is madness. But who do you think idid/i do it? No-one looks just like me except Chain, and certainly he wouldn't go around in my clothes stealing things."  
  
"They should know it wasn't you because you don't have a scratch on you, and the King claims he wounded you. Though that could have been healed, the soldiers didn't find the keys on you. Yes, those could have been hidden, but still! I should think your past and personality would be sure proof it wasn't you. But then, the King did say your voice even sounded normal...but he was probably half asleep!"  
  
"Well, there's more witnesses against me than with me, it seems. Feelock and Sohran are the only two who saw me last night. Oh yeah, and the griffons but they wouldn't be included in this kind of thing. By the way Taig, do you know of anyone who calls himself the 'Dark One'? He controlled Feelock and caused the storms, but I'm sure you'll hear about that as soon as he gets to Catalin and news spreads to Dracoulis."  
  
"No, never heard of anyone like that." Taig said, calming himself and sitting down. His red scales and almost metallic golden wings shimmered in the torchlight as he shifted uncomfortably. "Man, it's cold in here! I can't believe they're doing this to you after you saved all their butts from Ganondorf! Hylians are so unpractical and ungrateful. A proper trial would be held in Dracoulis before anything unpleasant happened to the accused."  
  
"Well, the King runs Hyrule by the old laws, and no one argues with him because he iusually/i makes good decisions. I hate to murmur, but I think Zelda will be a better ruler. She's very wise. By the way, is she okay?"  
  
"Well, she's not hurt, but she's very distressed. She says she had a terrible dream about you a while ago. At first she thought it meant you were dead, now the King says it might mean you have 'fallen into darkness', or turned evil. She didn't seem very convinced, though. She seems very scared and worried. She even told me it was good to see you, but when she thinks of what's going to happen to you she's not happy. What does that mean, Link?"  
  
"It means anyone who commits treason or tries to kill the King gets beheaded, that's what." Link said, ignoring an irritating sinking feeling that forced its way into his stomach.  
  
"iBeheaded?/i No way! I'll bust you out of here, Link! I can snap these bars like twigs!" Taig roared, flexing his muscles.  
  
"No, Taig. I could break out myself and even find a back way out of here because I've studied a map of Hyrule castle's underhalls. However, doing that will only firmly convince everyone I really did try to kill the King, and I'd rather die than have Zelda and my friends think that."  
  
"If they were really friends, like me, they would know you didn't do it! However, Zelda said herself she wouldn't believe you did it if she hadn't seen you close-up. She looked very sad as she described how she saw every detail of your face and the Master Sword as you shoved her aside to escape. She said she was sure it was you. It was kinda freaky to hear her describe it, Link..."  
  
"Don't worry, Taig, I really didn't do it. I was gone last night, promise."  
  
"Okay Link, I believe you, and so does Sohran and some others."  
  
"Thanks, Taig. Anyway, do you have any other news?"  
  
"Hmmm, let me think..." A loud banging was heard on a steel door in the hall behing Taig and to the right.  
  
"Hey! You've been in there long enough! I don't care if you're a Prince, that's all the time you get!" A guard yelled from behind the door. Link then heard the door opening and the soldier walked up beside Taig. The dragon glowered at the guard, and the guard glowered at Link. "I can't believe you, Link." He said, not even noticing the dragon's glaring. "After being the Hero of Time you would almost kill the King...you know, if the physician hadn't reached the King as fast as he did, the King would have bled to death in a matter of minutes!" The soldier spit on the ground in distaste.  
  
"Link didn't do it, human!" Taig growled, glaring spears at the man.  
  
"I saw him myself, he ran right past me, chopping at my head! The bloody brat tried to kill the King!"  
  
"bHe did NOT!/b" Taig roared, a piece of his mature dragon voice surfacing as his rage boiled. It was terribly deep and infuriated. The soldier backed up, frightened by the dragon's anger. "bIf you say it one more time, I'll fry you!!/b" Cringing, the soldier backed up more. A few soldiers came from behind the firghtened one, wielding spears.  
  
"Don't make us attack you, dragon! Your father will hear about this! You promised to behave!"  
  
"bHow can I 'behave' if my best Hylian friend is going to be killed?!/b"  
  
"Taig, no! Don't-" Link tried to say, but then every noise in the dungeouns was drowned out by a viscious roar, and Taig sprang at the soldiers. Unfortunately for the dragon, they had been prepared for this. They stood aside and pressed themselves against the walls and Taig shot past, tripping over one's boot and sprawling on the ground. The soldiers quickly put a net over the dragon, which was made of metal links and hooks. Each time the dragon tried to move, the hooks dug into him, making him wince. The dragon went still, a feral hiss escaping his snout. "Taig..." Link watched from within his cage, determined to do something about it if the guards seriously harmed his reptilian friend. They were gentle, however, as they put a muzzle on Taig and carried him out.   
  
"bI won't let them kill you, Link/b!" Taig declared, his words muffled by the muzzle as the soldiers carried him away. One stayed behind, and walked over to Link, examining him. Link recognized the soldier immediately, it was a man he had recently made friends with and fought against during the last Warrior Contest.  
  
"Hi, Corb." Link said simply.  
  
"Hi, Link." The brown-haired man replied. They simply stared at eachother for a few moments. Corb trying to decide what he should think of Link, Link wondering if Corb thought he was guilty. To his dismay, Corb did. "Why did you do it, Link?" Link sighed. It was probably useless to say anything, but he couldn't keep silent.  
  
"I didn't, Corb. Seriously. I was in the cliffs of the Great Sea last night." Link could tell Corb wasn't convinced. It was pretty painful to see someone who had been a friend before look at him accusingly.  
  
"Link, don't lie. See this scar?" Corb held up his right forearm and Link saw a large healed slash. It made Link mad at whoever was framing him to see his former friend hurt. "You gave it to me last night. Why?" Link closed his eyes sadly. Without saying anything, he went and sat in the corner of his cell. It was useless. There was nothing he could do! If only he had Zelda's brain, he could think of something...iZelda! I need to talk to her!/i  
  
"Corb, listen. Can you please tell Princess Zelda I want to talk with her?" Link asked.  
  
"Why, so you can give her a scar to match mine? Certainly not!" Link flinched visibly from the harsh words. Corb had been such a nice guy! Apparently, he felt as betrayed as Link did. Corb shot an angry look at Link, and left him in silence. Link put his head in his hands, wondering if he would ever talk face-to-face with Zelda again before he met an unlikely end to his road.  
  
Link got no more visitors because all who asked were turned down after the incident with Taig. Chain even picked a fight with a guard who was making him angry, but didn't win and was punished. Link was growing increasingly irritated with the whole situation. Not only was he in a bad position, but all his supporters were causing an uproar. Even from in his cell, he could hear a fight break out once in a while involving the guards watching the dungeons. A meal was brought to him at some time, but he wasn't hungry enough to touch it. What a crazy siduation! While he was alone, he thought about what was going to happen. iWould I really rather die than be banished from Hyrule? Will the King listen when I explain that I didn't attack him? If I am executed, what will happen if a monster tries to destroy Hyrule? I don't think there will even be a formal trial, I'll be lucky if I can defend myself more than once according to the old rules...What the heck am I going to? Sit around and rot and die? Run away from all my friends and convince everyone I'm a villain? If I escape from here just to talk to the King, I'm sure any soldier who saw me would try to kill me, and how could I fight against another Royal Guardsman? This is so hopeless...it seems like there's a very intelligent answer to this enigma, and I just can't find it. I can't try to sneak out and talk to Zelda because she'll be with her father...the only way I'll ever get to talk to her again is if she comes down here, and no doubt the King's forbidden that. Shoot...I should just leave.../iLink shook his head. iI can't do that! This place and these people mean so much to me... do I mean so little to them? /iThe thought was very depressing.  
  
Link worried over the matter past evening and far into night. He thought of all the possible things he could do and what he would say if the King asked him to say anything. No-one had told him, but Link knew that tomorrow at sunrise he would be taken to the courtyard and be allowed to briefly present his defense. If the King thought he was guilty, his head would part company with his shoulders. If not, he would be forgiven of all charges and everything would go back to normal. Link was thinking of who his imposter was when he started to get tired. iA shapeshifter couldn't have done it because they can only imitate bodies, not weapons, and there's only one Master Sword. Shoot, who could possibly make a sword just like mine, and look just like me,/i and isound just like me? It's impossible.../iIt was about two o'clock in the morning when sleepiness and boredom clouded Link's thoughts. He drifted into sleep, despite the cold, hard stone beneath him.   
  
Link jerked awake as he heard metal against metal. He sat up, long ears perked, waiting for another sound. He could hear the muffled snoring of the guard who was supposed to be watching the door down the hall and to the right. Waiting a few moments, he heard the metal again. It wasn't grating, like he had thought at first. This time, it was the distinct sound of a large, metal lock being opened. Link was on his feet imediately. iThat must be the person who stole the keys from the king! I have to catch him,/i Link thought. This was the answer to his question! All he had to do was catch the guy before he escaped. Link ran over to his bars and easily bent them open with the help of the Platinum Gauntlets' strength. He didn't even stop to see if his guard had woken up, dashing down the hall to the left, which was where he had heard the sound. He quickly found a fork in the stone hall, and knew from his map-study that the right way lead to the waterways under the castle and the left led to more dungeon cells. Link heard a door closing somewhere far down the right path and ran that way. After about a minute of sprinting, he found an old wooden door on the left side of the passage he was in. Next to the bottom of the door lay a rusty lock, opened and discarded. Link quietly entered the door, not wanting the person he was chasing to know he was there.   
  
Link walked quickly but quietly down the dimly-lit stone passage the door he had opened led to. He passed several doors on his way, but all were locked. The passage angled to the left and down some spiral stairs. By the flickering torchlight Link could see a door at the end of the stairs. As he reached the door he heard rushing water behind it, and a lock laying on the floor. Link discovered that the light was dim because a torch had been taken, so Link took another one and pushed open the old door. He emerged into pitch darkness, the only light being that of his torch. The air was damp and cold, and Link could hear water rushing all around him. After letting his eyes adjust for a few moments, Link saw he was standing on a walkway that followed flowing water down an arched hallway that curved to the right. He saw a dim light shining on the wall in that direction and followed, wondering why on earth someone would steal keys just to get to the waterways. There was nothing down here...iWait, I do seem to remember something important being down here, but I didn't think I'd have to worry about it ever again and forgot...let's see, it was something powerful...Oh yeah!/i Link broke into a run as he realized what was down there. It had been hidden down there, and the only people who knew about it was Zelda, Impa, the King, and Link. The Sword of Darkness! The King had sealed it in a concrete, locked box. Link had to stop this mysterious person before he reached it! Link remembered how it had felt to be cut by that blade...  
  
Link was catching up to the person in front of him. He saw the torchlite, then heard booted feet running as the man discovered he was being followed. As Link ran around a bend and down a left passageway in his pursuit, he found that he was gaining on the man. Unfortunately, Link knew where they were going and just up ahead would be many turns and forks, and it might be very easy for his query to evade him if he didn't catch up more. Breathing heavily, Link increased his pace. He almost lost his footing on the slippery surface of the stone, but caught himself before he fell into the water beside him. Link ran again, and the passage he was in straightened out. He could see the guy with the torch! He was too far away to be able to tell anything for certain, but Link saw that he was wearing green before the theif dashed down a right passageway. Link followed, but by the time he got to the turn, the torchlight had dissappeared and Link barely caught sight of it going down another turn. Link wasn't tired yet, and ran quickly that way, careful not to slip. Link was catching up again, when suddenly the light in front of him dissappeared entirely. There wasn't any turns where the light had been, so the theif must have gotten desperate and doused his torch.   
  
iGreat, now what? I'll never find him in this blackness, but how is he going to find his way around? Maybe this isn't a normal human../i.Link stopped and listened, but only heard rushing water. He then continued running until he got to the spot he was sure he had seen the torchlight last. He stopped running and looked about cautiously, knowing the guy could easily ambush him if he wasn't careful. Link leaned down and saw boot marks on the wet stone. He tried to follow them, but found that there were too many other kinds of marks in the stone and not enough light to track. Dismayed, Link tried to recall if the King had ever told him exactly where the Sword of Darkness in its case had been thrown in the water. Link didn't think so. Therefore, the only thing left for Link to do was search all the surrounding hallways and try not to get lost. He knew where he was, but his memory of the upcoming hallways were dim. He could only pray for good luck as he marched onward, all senses alert for danger.  
  
i-Yes, this is the spot...I can feel the darkness calling to me from here! It is very hard to see in this blackness because the fool following me forced me to extinguish my torch, but I can see enough to make out a rectangle-shaped box in the water. I dive in and swim hard to resist the current. I get hold of the box and use my huge strength to lift it. Regretfully, I wouldn't have the strength if it weren't for Link finding the Golden Gauntlets. I hate owing my strength to that fool. Oh well, I will be prepared to murder him when he gets back to Hyrule.  
  
Putting the four foot long concrete case under my arm, I swim to the top and break the surface, breathing hard. Why? This should be easy for me. Too bad I can't breath underwater. I doesn't seem quite right. I shove the heavy thing onto the stone, hoping that whoever is down here doesn't hear it. True, I could easily kill whoever it is, but I want plenty of time to examine my new sword. And, it would be a pity if I had to kill the man before I can get the sword and test it on him. I'll even maintain my disguise so that he will think that Link is killing him. I climb out of the water, taking out the keys I stole from King. Examining the concrete box, I see thick metal hinges and a secure metal lock. On the lock is a design I recall seeing on one of my keys, and I quickly get out that key. It fits the lock, and I open it...yes! Finally, the Sword of Darkness is mine to wield. It lays before me in the box, completely dry and in good condition. The red jewel in the black and silver hilt glows with power and anxiousness, and the emensely sharp, darkish blade looks hungry for blood. Soon, it will be satisfied. Why, if the Hylians fear this sword so much, didn't they just destroy it? Ever since I learned the location of the sword, I have wondered this. Now, I know the answer. The level of power eminating from this sword is such that it cannot be destroyed by any normal weapon. No doubt, the Hylians don't have anything powerful enough to break it, or, if they do, they are too ignorant to realize it.  
  
I pick up the sword and smile as I feel its hungry power flow into my body. It thinks it will use me to kill things for it, but it will be the other way around. My will is stronger than the sword's and it submits to my ownership. I have freed it and will satisfy its hunger, and that is enough. It is time to give this sword its first taste of Hylian blood. I stalk silently into the darkness, listening for the dead man who dared follow me here.-/i  
  
Link paused, sure that he had heard stone grating against stone. But where from? The countless halls of water distorted sound with their twisting paths. Link thought it had come from a passage to the right, so that was the way he went. He still knew where he was, but if he made a wrong turn or somehow got turned around, he would be lost, probably for a very long time. Still very alert for danger, Link walked on. For about five minutes he followed the hall he was in, not tuning or trying to jump across the water. He began to wonder if he had really heard the sound from this direction, when something appeared in front of him. He cautiously approached it, and discovered it was an open concrete box, with algea all over it. He bent down and saw that it was empty! Nervousness rose as Link realized he was under the castle without any weapon, and there was a theif/murderer running around with the Sword of Darkness, which was probably the most anti-Link weapon in Hyrule. He stood up, looking around quickly. The holder of the stolen sword had to be somewhere nearby. At the end of this crazy chase, Link knew he would either be very lucky or very dead.   
  
Link gave up the idea of looking for the man, because all that would do is get him killed. Instead, Link thought he would go back into the castle and find the Master Sword, then escape the castle and search for the guy until he found him and was able to prove himself innocent. Link only had a few hours before morning, meaning that he had to very quickly get out from under the castle and find his sword. He turned around, knowing the way back. Of course, he was very careful not to get too involved in finding the way back, or he could not devote all his senses to watching for danger. If the theif caught him unawares, it was over. Link pictured the map of the castle underhalls in his mind, choosing the shortest path back. It amazed him that he could remember such things, but he had plenty of training in that department from the Know-It-All Brothers. As a child, he had tried to remember every thing the boys had told him; with hope that it would come in handy later, and it had.   
  
Link slowed his pace, thinking he had heard something. Unfortunately, he heard boots on stone and stopped. Whoever Link had unwisely followed down here was very close. Link wasn't afraid, thinking that whatever happened, things couldn't get much worse than they already were.  
  
i-What sort of trick is this? How could this man possibly be Link? Link is supposed to be miles and miles away from here. Did he somehow make it back to Hyrule in a day through a teleportaton spell? Something strange is going on...he doesn't have his sword. I grin. Ths will be very easy. I can just kill him here and be done with him! Getting excited, I prepare to attack, forgetting all my former plans of luring the hero to my lair and giving him a slow death. This will do nicely.-/i  
  
"Show yourself!" Link challanged, turning around because he thought that was where he had heard the noise. He heard boots again, and saw a blade glitter wickedly in front of him, barely catching some light from his torch. Boots came into view, then a body...Before Link could look at the face, the man sprung at him, aiming to drive the Sword of Darkness into his heart. Link jumped aside, eyes on the eerily glowing red jewel in the sword's hilt. The blade missed Link, but cut the top of his torch off, and it clattered to the ground, nearly going out. Link made a grab for where he had last seen a man's arm, and suceeded in catching a wrist. Holding onto it with both hands, Link flung his elusive enemy into the stone wall next to him. The man hit with a grunt of pain and slid to the floor. Link couldn't really tell, but the man seemed to be about the same size as him. Link could dimly see the guy lay on the floor for a second or two, then jump up and backwards, out of the ring of firelight.   
  
Link kicked the still lit tip of the torch in the direction the man had gone, but to his surprise, nothing was illuminated. All he could see was the empty, damp, walkway of stone beside rushing water, and the low, arched ceiling of the same grey, mossy stone. iRunning away already? Come on, this guy has a huge advantage over me! I haven't even seen his face yet, but sure enough, he's wearing a tunic like mine. What's going on here?/i Link knew the man was still close. What should he do? Leave the torch and try to find his way in the darkness, or try to pick it up and risk being stabbed? Link didn't have time to make a decision. The black profile of the theif materialized out of the darkness and jumped over the torch, straight at Link, aiming a powerful slash at the Hylian's chest. The red jewel of his sword flared up once again, sensing that it was close to cutting flesh. Link tried to back up but didn't move fast enough, and had nothing he could block a sword with. The blade found its target.  
  
"Aaaagghhh!" Screaming in searing pain as the dark blade cut his chest, Link stumbled backward. The dark sword had given him a long laceration, and the evil blade filled him with excruciating dark magic. Link lost his footing and fell, landing roughly on cold, slippery stone. Despite his chest feeling like it was burning, he stood up as the black outline of his attacker charged again. By some twisted form of luck, Link slipped on the wet stone again and the blade missed him. His opponent slammed into him, sending them both backwards into the water.   
  
Link's world blurred as pain blinded him. Cold water was rushed into his wound, making it worse. The black magic hadn't faded from the wound yet (the longer or deeper a wound is, the longer it takes for the black magic to fade), and Link could barely manage to keep his head above water as the strong current swept him away. Everything was black, and even if Link's eyes were working properly he wouldn't be able to see an inch in front of his face. This was complete darkness, something an ordinary an Hylian's eyes could never penetrate. After a moment of struggling to keep himself upright in the water, Link felt hands grip his shoulders and shove him underwater. iIs this the end? This black magic is taking all my strength, I know I can't fight this man any longer. If the black magic doesn't kill me, this man certainly will. I'll be remembered as a hero gone bad.../iDespite the hopelessness of the siduation, Link called upon his failing strength and tried to break free of the man holding him under. He just wasn't strong enough. The guy had such a tight grip on his arm Link thought it might break. It would have been very painful if Link wasn't going numb from the cold water. Unfortunately the numbing did nothing to lessen the pain from his magic wound, which was assaulting his spirit as well as his body. Feeling his conscious fleeing from him, Link tried once again to get the weight of the thief off him, to no avail. Then, Link saw red as a jarring impact separated him and his enemy. Aparently they had hit some stone dividing two waterways that forked off in different directions, and they floated off away from eachother. The separation was in time to save Link from dying, but it did not save him from uncounciousness. He remembered thinking that he was very irritated about how often people tried to drown him when his thoughts ceased.  
  
i-Curses. I wasn't watching were we were going and now I'll have a very large bruise from hitting that stone devider. But as I let the current carry me and my new sword out of the castle, I think I was sucessful. I felt Link go still in my hands. Did I kill him? I won't know until I return to my lair and check the condition of my prisoner...-/i  
  
Coughing out water violently, Link dragged himself out of the freezing water. He didn't know how long he had been out, but it must have been at least half an hour because the black magic in his wound had left, leaving him with nothing but an ordinary, if painful, slash. Expelling the last of the water in his lungs, Link exhaustedly sat up against the cold stone wall of the walkway, shivering and breathing heavily. He had been stopped by a grate and washed up on some stairs that led up to the walkway beside the water. Link couldn't see it for lack of light, but had felt it. He was extremely lucky. According to his memory, each grate had a symbol carved on the wall next to it to mark its number, and Link could navigate out of here with that information. After a few minutes of shivering and deciding that it wasn't going to get any warmer, Link got to his feet and felt along the wall for the symbol; he stoically ignored the pain of his cut and numerous bruises.   
  
sorry this is such a cliffhanger, but if I added another section on it would be too long. I'll probably update tomorrow anyways if this gets reviewed. I hope you guys are liking it so far! Can anyone guess who the Link look-alike is? . say, I got a question. When you guys read my story, do you see the titles bold, or do you see the b/b thingie? plz tell me in your review -Talonclawfange 


	2. The Return of the Dark One part 2: 3,4,5

**Section 3  
  
Dawn of Death**  
  
Corb walked down the torchlit passage grimly. It was dawn, time to retrieve the prisoner and take him to the courtyard. After a few minutes he came to Link's former cell. The astounded guard gasped as he saw the bars of Link's confinement area, bent like forks. His mouth dropped open in surprise, then he heard a noise farther down the hall. Startled, he walked the corner of the wall that turned to the right and pressed himself up against it, listening. It was ragged breathing from someone who was obviously wounded. Corb turned the corner and saw none other than Link.  
  
"Link? What kind of a monster are you? Bending the bars of your cell..." Corb trailed off, observing Link's condition. Link looked up weakly, putting pressure on a huge slash across his chest. His shoulder looked bashed, and red blood poured down his face from a wound on his head.  
  
"Corb..." Link muttered, colapsing. Corb looked down at him, dumbfounded. The boy was prabably already going to die, and Corb didn't have the heart to bring him before eveyone like this, he could hardly talk! Corb wondered what had happened as he looked at Link's tired form. Surprisingly, it was painful for Corb to see him hurt. Why? The little brat had tried to kill the King, so why did Corb still feel a bond with him. Irritated, Corb walked over to Link and pulled out an Arlia bud (all Royal Guard officers had one), healing his wounds with it. The one on his chest was too big to heal completely, but it stopped bleeding and became much smaller, almost unnoticable. Link slowly got to his feet, still not feeling very strong, but feeling much better than before. "Thank-"  
  
"Don't you thank me, you criminal!" Corb said, cutting him off. Link gave him a wounded look, and submissively allowed him to tie his hands. "Right, let's go." Corb said in a milder tone. He couldn't shake his hot anger against Link, but he couldn't bring himself to be rough with him, either. As Corb led Link out of the dungeons, he wondered about something. How was Link able to bend his bars? If he was that strong, why didn't he escape rather then stay? Also, what had beat the tar out of him? Corb swallowed the piece of his pride that said he was above talking to traitors, and asked.  
  
"Well, Corb, I doubt you'll believe me if I tell you, so it's a waste of time." Link said quietly.  
  
"I don't care if you think it's a waste of time! Tell me anyway." The soldier ordered. Link laughed quietly at his arrogance. It would be so easy to get out of this siduation. Still, Link decided to stay with his former plan so everyone wouldn't think he was a murderer.  
  
"Well, I think the guy who impersonated me broke in last night, and used the King's keys to get into the waterways. I got out of my cell and followed him, which really wasn't very smart because I didn't have a weapon. He stole the Swo...eh, something from the waterways and then wounded me. Then we both got caught in the water and separated. When I washed up I knew I was too weak to follow him, because I lost blood from every step I took. So, I just came back to the dungeons because I knew that if I died down there or died tryng to get the Master Sword back, everyone I know will think I really tried to kill the King."  
  
"Ridiculous!"  
  
"I knew you would say that."   
  
By now, the two were out of the dungeons and in one of the halls that let to the courtyard. Link yawned tiredly, but knew he wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. At least, not the temporary kind of sleep. Link still couldn't believe this was happening to him. How had he gone from savior to murderer in one night? His impersonator must have been an excellent actor to turn the whole castle against the Hero of Time who had saved them from numerous sticky ends. Once again, it was depressing. The two men emerged into the colorful light of a sun that had risen moments ago. _At least I can feel the light of the rising sun one last time_...Link instantly chided himself for the thought. He couldn't resign himself to death just yet! There was still a chance to convince the King it wasn't him who had been the King' attacker. What about Zelda and Chain? Surely they would defend him, along with Taig and Sohran. What would the King do? Act on an impulse and kill the Hero of Time, or think it through and decide that the whole thing must be a mistake? It was rather unnerving because Link didn't know the King well enough to know which one he would choose. Link discovered a large crowd in the courtyard, all standing around a wooden platform about two or three feet above the ground. They were all Hylians except one person. Taig the dragon prince. The dragon was tied, aparently the guards expected him to try and rescue Link. At the sight of Link everyone began talking amongst themselves, and Taig struggled against his ropes and muzzle.  
  
"Bring the prisoner forth, Corb." The King said. As Link and Corb traveled through an opening made by the crowd, Link saw the King. The warrior instantly felt frozen by the Royal man's cold glare. What was even more disturbing was the huge, reddish scar on the King's neck. It _really _made Link want to fight the man who had tried to kill the King. How could the guy be audacious enough to attack a King who the Hero of Time had sworn to protect!? At the same time, Link was mad at himself for failing in that duty. Link was led onto the wooden platform, on which stood a very musculer man with an ax._ Are you serious?! The executioner is already here?! I guess the King is really mad at me!_ Link eyed the huge man nervously. "Link!" Everyone went silent. Ignoring the guy with the ax, Link turned his attention to the King, who was sitting about twenty feet in front of him on a chair. Zelda stood beside that chair looking very pale. "You know what you are accused of...breaking into the castle, stealing, comitting treason by trying to kill me, and injuring many soldiers on your way out!" The King's face was pratically red. Link could tell he was outraged by this percieved treachery. "What do you have to say for yourself?!" There was a long, expectent silence. Link kneeled to the King and spoke.  
  
"Your Majesty, I have sworn to protect you and your country, and have done so many times. Never in my life, even if I was threatened with death, would I attempt to kill you. The one who did those things was an imposter." The crowd broke into an excited chatter, which quickly died down.  
  
"Link, I think I know my own guard. I know your face and your voice. I know your sword." Once again, chatter could be briefly heard before it became silent again.  
  
"I cannot tell you who the person who looked like me was, Your Majesty. I can only say it wasn't me and I don't know how they could possibly resemble me so closely. I promise, Your Majesty, I wasn't even in Hyrule when this attack occured!"  
  
"It's true, Great King Hyrule! Link was with me and Feelock, in the cave of three sea griffons...." Sohran started to say. The King glanced at him irritably for speaking out of turn.  
  
"We do not bring other species into our feuds, Captain Sohran." At this, Taig struggled visciously. Unfortunately, the ropes around him were extremely strong. The dragon's voice rang out loudly, though muffled.  
  
"You all know Link's personality! He would never hurt your King! I cannot believe you fools are going to execute your own hero!" Taig managed to speak through his muzzle. The crowd was a little mad at being called fools, but some recognized that the dragon was right. How could they kill the boy who had rescued them from utter destruction or imprisonment at the hands of Ganondorf and others? "Do you really think the dieties will grant you another Hero of Time if you kill this one? No! You'll all be wiped out when the next great threat appears, because your savior will be dead!"  
  
"Shut that dragon up!" The King ordered, and some guards tied ropes around Taig's snout, tight enough to prevent talking. Smoke drifted from the dragon's nose and he glared ferociously at the King. _You know I'm right_, the glare said. "Sometimes people who are powerful seek more power. Sometimes that power turns them evil and they try to kill their King." Daphnes said, looking at Link. He rubbed his scarred neck, and Link almost flinched from his intense gaze.   
  
"King, if I had been turned evil, don't you think I would be fighting right now? If I was evil I wouldn't care if everyone knew it and I wouldn't care for their health, so I would be doing everything I could to escape. I submit myself to your judgement because I am innocent and I want eveyone to know it, even if I die!" Surprised noises from the crowd. Zelda began to look very sick, and Link could hear some guards trying to calm down his brother somewhere to the right.  
  
"He has a point, father." Zelda said, not able to restrain herself. "Don't you think-"  
  
"Quiet, Zelda. I have the testimony of many soldiers who saw him with their own eyes. Can I not impose justice for their sakes? Yes, Link's argument was very touching, but you wouldn't believe his evil laughter as he stuck the Master Sword into my shoulder!" Zelda put her hand over her mouth in astonishment, looking at Link.  
  
"Not guilty." Is all Link said. _I'm really in up to my neck now_, Link thought. _Before I could have escaped and got my sword and hunted down my imposter, but I was so involved in my thoughts that that opportunity is past. If I try to escape now, I'll have to hurt, maybe kill, innocent people. My life is entirely in Daphnes's hands.  
_  
"I'm not going to take any more of this denial. I know you did it and you know you did it." The King said. He was disgusted that someone who had been so loyal could be so dishonest.  
  
"Father, there was something different about him two nights ago, he's different now, as if it wasn't the same person!" Zelda said, becoming very worried. How could she stop her friend from being killed? She cursed the stubborness of her father. Daphnes recalled 'Link' attacking him, the terrible, bloodthirty strength...it made the King shudder in spite of himself. It had been a terrifying and painful night. He didn't want to look at Link anymore. Every time he did, his thoughts returned to the pain of being betrayed.  
  
"Execute him." The King said stiffly. The hard-spoken words fell heavily on the crowd, creating a suffocating environment for a brief moment.  
  
"No, father! Please!" Zelda couldn't stop from throwing herself on her father, pleading pitifully. Link's stomach was ice. It's over. He thought.   
  
"Liiink! Daphnes, don't!!" Chain screamed, five soldiers holding him. The whole crowd was suddenly engulfed in a surge of emotion. Half seemed happy the traitor was going to die, and the other half were not so sure they were ready to see the Hero of Time be destroyed. Many of Link's friends and supporters other than Chain had to be restrained, including Raykel and Sohran, and some other Royal Guards. Everyone went silent as the executioner put a strong hand on the back of Link's neck and forced him down on a cutting block. Link wondered if this would hurt a lot, and decided it would. Link's eyes were shut and his whole body tensed up as the man raised his ax. It hung in the air a few moments, wavering slightly, and no one breathed. Then the executioner threw it down, a sob racking his large frame.  
  
"I can't...do it, Your Majesty! He...he saved us all!" The man said emphatically, looking at his King. "Sorry..."  
  
"No...I expected you wouldn't be able to, Brun. Hans..."  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty." Another tall man (the second executioner) named Hans took up the ax.   
  
"King Daphnes, I will protect Hyrule with all my energies in the afterlife! I will always serve you, princess Zelda!" Link yelled as the ax was raised over him a second time.  
  
"Halt!" The King ordered. Hans held his ax still, looking at the King expectantly. The King couldn't bring himself to kill someone pledging to serve Hyrule. Plus, the sadness and loyal support all Link's friends were displaying broke the coldness of the King's determination. Perhaps, just perhaps, this time he was wrong. "Don't kill him. Such words...even now, on the brink of death, the Hero of Time denies hurting me. Even though he has the strength to escape, he stays...pledging to serve the Royal Family. How can such a man hurt me? So many people love him, I cannot break their hearts. I am firmly convinced...Link is declared innocent!"   
  
"Father!" Zelda cried in joy. She and Chain rushed onto the platform, both hugging Link tightly. _I have such good friends_, Link thought, getting emotional. It was special to him to have friends that would openly oppose the will of the King of all Hyrule, who had the power to do just about anything, because they cared.   
  
"Well, now that I'm not going to die, I need to take a nap." Link said simply, yawning and falling asleep on the spot. Tiredness from lack of sleep and running and fighting all night, combined with extreme stress from almost dying for no reason, took him out. Zelda and Chain carried him to his room, and everyone in the crowd was suprised to find his or herself relieved. All of them knew in their hearts that they would have been devestated by Link's death, traitor or no.  
  
**Section 4  
  
Carefree...or Not  
**  
Link woke up a few hours later, and found Zelda and Chain and Taig all in his room.   
  
"Hi, guys," He said, yawning and sitting up. Taig jumped on him.  
  
"Link! Ha, didn't you have faith in the Great Taig to save you? I bravely...ah, what am I saying? I'm glad you're alive, pal!" Taig gave Link a hug that was even tighter than a Goron Hug.  
  
"Uh, Taig...I like you too, but can I have some air, please?!" Link asked, barely able to talk. The dragon was very strong.  
  
"Oh, of course!" Taig said, getting off him. "Eh, sorry about that. I guess I forgot how small Hylians are. So, how are you feeling?"  
  
"Well, I _was_ feeling good..." Link said, laughing. Taig grinned. "Well, thanks for all your support, guys. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead now without it. I know this is going to sound really gay...but I love you."  
  
"Awww..." Zelda said. Chain and Taig blushed.   
  
"It was nothing..." They muttered.   
  
"Zelda, do you know where all my stuff is?" Link asked, smiling at her. She smiled back for a few seconds before talking.  
  
"Your sword was taken to the Temple of Time, and the rest of your things are in a storage room. I can have them brought..."  
  
"No, a walk would be good for me. I'm going to go to the temple first. Anyone coming?" Of course, everyone was coming.   
  
"Hey Link, after we get your sword, why don't we do something fun before getting the rest of your stuff?" Zelda suggested. "Since we'll be out, why not go swimming in Lake Hylia?"   
  
"That sounds cool," Chain agreed, and eveyone thought it over, deciding that it was a good idea. Zelda and Chain put on some swimming clothes under their normal ones (Link would just swim in his tunic, like he always did) and the group of four left the castle. As soon as Link left the castle walls, he was once again pounced apon. His horse had sensed the danger a while ago and had been maddened by the fact she couldn't get into the castle. She was now overjoyed to see Link, and knocked him over, licking his face with her thick pink toungue.  
  
"Yuck...I'm glad to see you too, Epona!" Link said, shoving her huge weight off him. The horse pawed the ground and nieghed loudly, demanding that her master get on her back. Link did so, and the horse was imediately happy.   
  
"Horses are wierd..." Taig said. He did not like getting ridden on. _But then it really wasn't so bad when Link's riding on me_...he brushed the thought away indignantly. _I am not a pack animal!_ Epona, Link, Taig, Zelda and Chain quickly covered the short distance between the castle and the Temple of Time. Link found that the Temple doors had sealed themselves after getting the sword put back inside, and he played the Song of Time to open them again. He then dismounted and went inside by himself to retrieve the magical, evil-repelling sword that had chosen Link to be its bearer. Link walked out of the temple and all three Hylians got on Epona. The strong horse easily carried them to Lake Hylia, Taig flying along behind. They reached the lake in about thirty minutes, and Link went to go visit the fisherman while Zelda and Chain got ready to swim.   
  
"Hi, Mr. Fisherman." Link said, walking up to the man's counter.  
  
"Oh, it's the nice boy who gave me my hat back and bought some fishing poles. Hello, Link." He was talking about one time he had been rude to Link and Link decided to take his hat. It had been very tempting to leave the rude, bald man's hat in the fishing pool, but Link had given it back in exchange for 'cheap' prices on fishing poles.  
  
"I'd like to buy some more fishing poles, you see my other ones got...lost." Link said, shrugging.  
  
"_Lost_? Those were state-of-the-art, hand-made fishing poles! You_ lost_ them?!" The fisherman's face was twisted into an ugly, angry expression.  
  
"Um, yeah, sorry. I'll pay the same price for a few more..."   
  
"Same price? I don't think so, you got a discount last time. One thousand each!"  
  
"_What_? That's half as expensive as a horse! You've got to be kidding!"  
  
"No. You pay full price this time, and if you even _think_ about taking my hat, I'll call a Hyrule Army officer on you!"  
  
"How annoying..." Link said, wondering if he should pay the unreasonable price. He had the money, but it was still the highest price for anything Link had ever bought. Taig opened the door to the fishing area and stepped in.  
  
"Hey, Link! What are you doing in here?" The red dragon asked, looking at the fisherman.  
  
"Wh-whaa! Is t-that a...DRAGON?!" The fisherman didn't get out much and had never seen one.  
  
"Yeah, Taig's a dragon. A small one, too. You should see his mom..." That made the fisherman shiver.  
  
"Get that monster out of my fishing pool!" He yelled.  
  
"Hey, that's not very nice...uh, fishing pool?" Taig licked his jaws. "I could really go for some fish right now..." He looked over at the pool and saw the many fish swimming in it. "Yummy!! They're greenfins, my favorite kind!" Taig leapt/flew into the pool, making a huge spash that scared all the fish. He then proceeded to catch as many fish as he could, stuffing them into his mouth.  
  
"Nooooo! My fish!" Holding his head and screaming, the fisherman left his counter and ran to the edge of his pool, jumping up and down. "Stop that! Stop that! Stop that, stop that, stop thaaat!" Link had never seen him so upset, not even when he had taken his hat. The flustered man turned to Link desparately. "Get him out of here, please! If you do, I'll sell you as many rods as you want, promise! Only...450 rupees!" That was a much better price.  
  
"Hey, Taig! Cut that out, those fish belong to the fisherman. You can eat as many as you want from Lake Hylia!" Taig raised his head from the water, a fish wriggling in his mouth.  
  
"Really?" The dragon spit the fish out and rushed past Link, out of the fishing pool area.  
  
"Oh, _thank_ you! I have ten poles left, how many do you need?" The fisherman asked.  
  
"Four would be nice." Link said, and the fisherman sold them to him. Link payed some extra for the fish Taig ate, then left. Link didn't particularly feel like swimming at the moment because of his recent water experiences, so he fished and let anyone else who wanted to fish use one of the poles. Chain was the only one who joined him, the other two preferring to swim in the lake. Zelda politely swam in a place far away from Link and Chain's fishing, but Taig kept scaring all the fish away.  
  
"Aw, Taig! That big fish was about to bite my line, and you scared it away! Go swim with Zelda!" Chain growled, watching a tasty, looking fish swim away in fear of the dragon.  
  
"But there's more fish over here! Who says you should get all the fish? _I'm_ a prince!" Taig said, showing off his gold bracelets.  
  
"Well _Link_ is the Hero of Time, and _I'm_ his brother!" Chain argued, and the two glared competetively at eachother. Chain ditched his pole and went to go wrestle Taig, and Link gave up the idea of fishing. Taig and Chain would scare all the fish away and Pierre, the scarecrow he was sitting near to, had begun to sing loudly and annoyingly. It was a hot day, and he warmed up to the idea of swimming.   
  
"I could catch more fish than you with a pencil-sized pole and a string!" Chain said, climbing up on Taig and giving his scaled head a noogie.   
  
"And _I_ could catch more fish than your silly pole if I was sleeping!" Taig retorted, grinning and shaking Chain off. He then proceeded to splash him with a tidal wave of water by means of his wings.  
  
Zelda was swimming peacefully next to the island in the middle of Lake Hylia in her blue, one-piece bathing suit. Suddenly, a monster grabbed her ankle and she screamed. The hand released her and she swam away, then Link surfaced right next to her, laughing.   
  
"Why you! Don't scare me like that!" She said, splashing the laughing warrior.   
  
"Sorry, I couldn't resist!" Link said, and Zelda splashed him a bunch in the face.  
  
"Hey! Two can play at that game..." Link started splashing her back, and soon a little splash-war had begun. After a while of Link winning the splash-war, Zelda used her magic to dump a bunch of water on his head.  
  
"That's cheating!" Link said, and heard someone else laughing. He looked up on the island and saw the Lake Professor giggling in his old, scratchy voice.  
  
"Heheheh, I think the princess got you that time, sonny. Say, since you're down there, would you mind doing something for me?" The white-haired, skinny, big-toothed man asked.  
  
"No, not at all," Link said. He and the professor were friends and Link had helped him with a lot of experiments in the past. "Just as long as you don't try to give me some of your 'herbal tea'..." The old man cackled and Link grimaced, remembering when he had given Link some 'herbal tea' which was really a very nasty-tasting medicine.  
  
"Don't worry, no tricks this time. All I need is a sample of the mud in front of the Water Temple's entrance. Will you do that for me, sonny?" A boney arm held out a jar to Link.  
  
"Sure." Link took the jar and dived dwon to the bottom of the lake, in front of the opening that led to the Water Temple (he didn't put on his boots because they were with eveything else back at the castle). Link held on to the island wall next to him so he wouldn't float, then used the jar to scoop up some mud from the lake bottom. Suddenly Link got a very unusual and eerie feeling, like he was being watched by something evil. He gazed into the black, gaping opening in the wall of the island and felt it even stronger. Something was in there...  
  
"What's taking him so long, princess?" The lakeside professor asked.  
  
"I don't know...it looks like he's staring into the temple opening, but I can't tell...oh, here he comes." Link swam up and surfaced next to Zelda, then handed the mud-filled jar to the professor. "Enjoying yourself down there, Link?" Zelda asked, suspicious.  
  
"I guess..." Link said, not really understanding why she asked.  
  
"You were down there for over a minute, did you see something?" She persisted.  
  
"Huh? No, I didn't see anything, just forget it," Link said, not wanting to worry the princess. He would check out the temple later. "Is that enough mud, professor?"   
  
"Oh, yes! Thank you very much, Link." The old man walked with his peculiar limp on the bridges (there is a bridge that links the main island to a smaller one, and a bridge that links that one to the shore) back to his house on the shore.   
  
"Hey Zelda, want to see a really good view of the lake?" Link asked the princess.  
  
"Sure! But where can you get that? There aren't any hills..."  
  
"Climbing the tree, of course." Zelda didn't look like she approved of that. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe. You just have to hold onto me." Zelda wasn't scared, because she vaguely remembered climbing the tree before as Sheik. She could hardly remember it because that was back when she still really thought she was a sheikah (Impa had brainwashed her a bit and helped her become Sheik in order to hide from Ganondorf).  
  
"Okay," She agreed, and the two Hylians climbed onto the island. On the relatively small island there was a stone memorial and a tall, leafless tree with only one branch and a huge slash in the trunk. No one knew why the slash was there, or how the tree could not be decaying without leaves. It would have been a difficult feat for most people to climb the tree without gear, but Link been raised in a forest and climbed trees all his life. Zelda held onto Link tightly, and he began to climb the tree, griping pieces of protruding bark to raise himself. The Hylians quickly reached the top, and Link helped Zelda stand next to him on the little dip between the trunk and the single branch. From the top of the tree the whole lake was visible, and the reflecting sunlight made it sparkle. "Wow, this really is a good view..." A little evil blackbird spotted the two Hylians and dove down, wanting to peck them just because it could. Link didn't have his sword (he left it on the shore) so he just snatched it out of the air and held it. The little thing struggled but couldn't move its head far enough to peck anything.  
  
"Hey, look at the cute bird, Zelda." Link said, showing it to her.  
  
"Cute? Isn't that one of those annoying little blackbirds that would peck your eyes out if you let it?"  
  
"Yeah, but what should I do with it? I can't just kill it now that I'm holding it..." The bird kicked and twisted, but Link wasn't about to let it go so it could peck something. It pecked at the air and sqwaked angrilly. The it suddenly calmed down and hunched its head. Link thought it looked scared. "Hey, what's wrong with it..." Then Link felt a dark feeling again. Something evil was watching him, waiting for him. Link suddenly remembered that the 'Dark One' had said he would be in Hyrule..._is he here, in lake Hylia?!  
_  
"Link, what's wrong? What are you staring at? Just because the bird is acting wierd, it doesn't mean you should, too! Is this another trick to try to scare me? Link!" Link was brought out of his thought by Zelda's voice.  
  
"It's not...safe here, Zelda. You should leave." The feeling was getting stronger, and Link knew for a fact that something was waiting for him in the Water Temple, and it wasn't Morpha. He let the bird go, and it flew away as fast as it could.  
  
"What? You are trying to scare me, aren't you? Hmf!" Zelda jumped off the top of the tree and gracefully dived into the lake. She didn't know Link was being serious. He could sense that if he didn't go into the Water Temple soon, evil things would start to come out. He waited for Zelda to swim out of the way, then dived in after her. She slashed him playfully when he came up, but Link was no longer in a playful mood. "Hey, Link, seriously. What's wrong? Lighten up, we're trying to have fun today!" Zelda went silent as she watched Link's stern face, and guessed it wasn't fun time anymore. She sighed. "Things are always troubling you, Link. This isn't something you can worry about later?"  
  
"No. Sorry, Zelda. I'll go get my sword..." Zelda watched him swim back to shore and equip the Master Sword.  
  
"Going somewhere, bro?" Chain and Taig stopped wrestling for a moment and looked over at Link.   
  
"Yeah. I'm feeling some bad vibes from the Water Temple, I'm going to go check it out. You guys be careful...I'm serious."  
  
"Huh? Done having fun already? Hey, we'll come with you! Won't we, Taig?" The dragon nodded. Link shook his head.  
  
"I feel like it's serously dangerous, guys. You stay here." Taig leapt out of the water and stomped over to Link, placing a finger on his chest.  
  
"Are you implying that whatever is in the Water Temple is too dangerous for the Prince of Dragons, but perfectly safe for a tight-wearing little Hylian?"  
  
"W-what? These are _not_ tights!" Link protested. Chain started laughing.  
  
"We're going with you whether you like it or not! I, for one, have had quite enough of being told what to do by Hylians." Taig growled indignantly.  
  
"Well, if you insist..." Link muttered, frowning irrtably. He did not like it at all. He sincerely felt that whatever was in the temple was very deadly, but it didn't seem like he would be able to convince Taig to stay. Besides, he was a capable warrior, and so were Zelda and Chain. Link still didn't like it, though.  
  
"We insist! Let's go, my tight-wearing Hylian friends!" Taig said, pointing at the temple in a very corney way.  
  
"Hey, these are not tights, Taig!" Chain yelled, but the dragon only snickered.   
  
"Heheh, you know I'm only kidding, guys." The dragon said. By now Zelda had decided that she was going too, and her and Chain quickly put their normal clothes back on. Link didn't even try to convince Zelda not to come. The four of them entered the temple together.  
  
**Section 5  
  
Dark Dimension**  
  
"What is this? It's not the Water Temple..." Link said, looking around. The four companions had emerged into a very strange place. It wasn't like a building at all, in fact, as far as the eye could see there was nothing but a few ruins and rock here or there. It was a misty and gray land. All the ground was covered in a foot of water, which seemed to be flowing sluggishly to the right. There was no sky or living things. It was like a dark dimension. It did remind Link of a room he had seen in the Water Temple, though...the room was an illusion of a place that looked like this, except there had been a door and a tree, and..._Dark Link? This looks just like the room I fought that shadow in! But he was desroyed...wasn't he?   
_  
Dark Link was a Dark Hylian, and Link had no idea where he had come from. He didn't no much about Dark Hylians, but Dark Link had been see throughish and silvery black. To Link, he had just been another one of Ganondorf's monsters. He had been a very formidable opponent, though. Next to Ganondorf, Dark Link had been the biggest challenge, because he had copied all of Link's moves. Link had nearly died twice when they fought. Was it possible that Link hadn't destroyed the Dark Hylian...? No, it couldn't be Dark Link. He simply wasn't powerful enough to conjure black monsters and turn the temple into a wasteland. But who could it be...? Certainly not Ganondorf. He was sealed permanently, and Link had no doubt that if he ever _did_ escape, he would make it widely known rather than hiding in the Water Temple and controlling Feelock.  
  
"Now what? I have no desire to get lost in this abyss...do you have any idea where we are, Link?" Zelda asked. Everything was silent as she waited for a reply.  
  
"I don't know where this is, but I have to explore it. You all can stay here if you want..." Link suggested. Taig growled loudly. "Eheh, or we can all go together! Yeah, why not?" Link said, scratching the back of his head and walking forward. He bumped right into a wall that wasn't there. "Ow! Hey, what on earth?" Link stretched out his hand and felt a sturdy wall where there was apparently nothing. "It's an illusion, guys. There's something here."  
  
"Let me try to cast a visibility spell, Link." Zelda said. This was one she didn't need to chant for and had immediate effects. Instantly a black wall appeared in front of Link and a black roof overhead. There were no visible lights, but strangely everyone could see.  
  
"This is really wierd," Link said, then stepped away from the wall as it started dissappearing again, replaced by the misty abyss of before. Then part of it turned into a wall again, and partof it faded...black wall and illusion abyss swam around erratically. "why is it doing that?" Link asked Zelda.  
  
"This is an evil place, and my magic ability is lessened...my spell only made it partly visible, it seems." Despite the strange, moving surroundings, Link was determined to move on. He found an opening in the wall, and he and his companions went that way.   
  
_Link...._  
  
Link stopped walking. Had he just heard a voice in his head? That wasn't a good sign...  
  
_ Link, help me..._  
  
"Hey, what's wrong? Let's move, man." Taig said, impatient to keep going.  
  
"Maybe he hears something, Taig. You have to trust the Hero of Time's instincts." Zelda said.   
  
"Eh, sorry about that. Let's go." Link said, walking on, the rest following. They walked down the passage for a long time. It was hard to tell because of the distorted environment, but sometimes the way widened, or got smaller, or turned and twisted. There were no branching ways, and Link was glad for that because it meant they wouldn't get lost. They walked on for a dozen minutes, everything silent except the splashing of feet and paws through a foot of water.  
  
_Link, he has me...  
_  
Link kept walking. _Who are you?_ Link asked in his mind. There was no answer. _I must be going crazy! This quiet whisper in my mind isn't being heard by anyone else...who could possibly talk to me in my mind?_ The passage opened up into a room. The room was all illusion, appearing to be nothing but a wet wasteland, but on the other side was an opening that was fading in and out of view. The companions made for that opening, and Link looked carefully around the room as they walked through it.  
  
_ ...don't let him squash me...  
_  
The quiet voice was beginning to freak Link out, but he stayed alert anyway. He sensed the black monsters approaching before they appreared.  
  
"Get ready for battle, everyone! We're being surrounded." At first Chain, Zelda and Taig were confused, then they saw black things begin to detatch themselves from nothingness. They were made of the same black magic as the assasins who had attacked Link and Sohran on the green island, but were different in form.  
  
"What are these things?! That one looks like me - only completely black!" Taig yelled, pointing at a dark copy of himself that had glowing red eyes. Some looked like the three Hylians, others looked like Taig! About twenty appeared before they started attacking. The dark things had an almost metallic shine to them, and all of their eyes glowed red as they closed in.  
  
"They look powerful, but they can be defeated with normal weapons. Try it!" Link slashed the nearest one, a pitch-black, faceless thing shaped like Zelda, and it fell in half soundlessly as the Master Sword cut through it.  
  
"He's right - these guys aren't so tough!" Taig said, easily biting the head off one of his dopplegangers. "Yowch!" Taig yelped as another one chomped his wing. It had tremendous jaw power, and broke the bone. Roaring, Taig slashed the thing's blank face with a spike on his tail. Link wanted to go help Taig, but a Link-shaped monster stepped in front of him, red eyes gleaming. It reminded Link of Dark Link, but this kind of monster was a different kind of black than the Dark Hylian had been, and Dark Link had not simply died when hit with the Master Sword. Link slashed at the annoying obstical, but it raised a dark sword and blocked Link's blow. The two forced their swords against eachother, in a test of strength...  
  
...Chain cut the black moster in front of him into halves with a divider spell, then two more Chain-shaped ones attacked him from behind. One cut his back with the very same spell he had just used, and he fell forward on his face. The second one put a black booted foot on his upper back to keep his down, under the water. He tried to get up and the one on top of him almost fell off, until the first one joined in. Their combined strength was too much to move...  
  
...Link finally mustered his strength to force the monster back, then hit its sword away. It then tried to punch Link, but he sidestepped and slashed it in half, just like the other one. Its halves dissolved into blackness, and Link ran over to Taig, who was being clawed and bitten by two dragon-shaped shadows. Link cut one's snout with his sword and it recoiled, hissing. Taig began grappling with the second one as Link slashed at the first, unaware of the Link monsters behind him...  
  
...Zelda casted a fire spell on the the monster in front of her, and, being too mindless to roll in the water, it burned to ashes. That was the third one Zelda had defeated, and she was feeling pretty good as she looked over at Link and Taig, locked in battle with dragon shadows. Where was Chain? She looked around for him and saw two Chain shadows standing on something as a hand grabbed her from behind.  
  
"Link-" Link turned at the call of his name and saw Zelda, straining to get a monster's hands off her throat.  
  
"Zelda! Hold on!" Link did a quick, blue spin attack to back up the dragon he was fighting, then jumpslashed it, splitting it in two and destroying it. More dragon and Link shadows were between him and the princess, and as more approached him from behind, he decided to use his best sword technique. "Taig, hit the floor!" Link yelled, and Taig obeyed, dropping and getting as low as possible for a dragon. "Kai-ten-giri!" Link shouted, performing his powered-up spin attack. The magic red flames coming from the Master Sword demolished all the shadows that had been surrounding Link, as well as the one Taig had been fighting. Link rushed over to Zelda and quickly destroyed the creature that had been gripping her neck, as well as two more that had been about to attack her. Zelda fell to her knees, coughing. "Are you okay, Zelda?" Link asked, trying to hear her reply over the roaring of a shadow monster Taig was frying.  
  
"Yes..." She said, and Link helped her to her feet. "Link! Chain is in trouble, look!" Zelda pointed to the two shadow monsters standing next to eachother, and Link sprinted over as fast as he could. Zelda blew one up with a spell and Link, filled with hot anger, slashed the second one into six pieces before it dissappeared. He pulled Chain out of the water, but Chain wasn't moving.   
  
"Oh no...Chain, say something!" Link turned his limp brother over and rested him on his knee, shaking his shoulder.   
  
"Link, put some pressure on his lungs to get the water out!" Zelda said, running over. There were no more black mosters after Taig had defeated his, and the dragon came rushing over as well. Link pushed on his brother's chest firmly, but nothing happened. _Chain, please don't be dead!_ Link prayed silently. "More pressure, he can handle it." Zelda said, leaning over. Link nodded and pushed down hard on Chain's chest. A bit of water came from his mouth and his face twitched, then he sat up and began coughing deeply, getting out all the water. Link patted him on the back, thinking it might help.  
  
"Oh, thank goodness..." Link said, extremely relieved. "You gave me quite a scare, Chain." Chain finished coughing and sat down tiredly.   
  
"Man, that didn't feel good...thanks, Link. Don't fuss, I'm okay. Let's get going...I don't want to stay in this room." The feeling was mutual, and the companions continued, not a trace of their battle remaining except a few areas of water that were slightly redder than the rest.  
  
"How is your wing, Taig?" Link asked as they walked.   
  
"Well, it's broken. I won't be able to fly for weeks unless I get this healed." The dragon prince replied.  
  
"Oh, silly me, I can heal you and I forgot! Here.." Zelda layed a small hand on Taig's broken wing, chanting quietly and healing it as they walked. "There, how's that?"  
  
"Much better, thanks." The two had slowed down a bit and were behind Chain and Link, who were still walking toward the exit of the room. Link and Chain realized their companions had fallen behind and stopped to wait for them. Just as Taig and Zelda were about to reach them, they bumped into an illusion-hidden wall.  
  
"What the..? That wall wasn't there a minute ago!" Link said, running up to it and putting a hand on it. "Wierd...it's not just an illusion, it's invisible! If it was simply illusion, I wouldn't be able to see you through it, Zelda." Link said.  
  
"You're right...hey, maybe if we back up a bit we can find where our two sides meet..." Zelda suggested. Both parties tried retracing their steps, but the wall had completely separated them. Link got irritated and tried slashing the wall with his sword, but it did no good.   
  
"Great, now what? We really shouldn't separate..." Link said, worrying for his companions' safety. But, he knew they had no choice.  
  
"The only thing we can do is explore and look for another way around, Link. If we don't find one, we'll go back to the entrance and meet you later, okay?" Link didn't like it, but it was the only thing they could do. He had a dark feeling that someone was controlling this place, separating them on pupose...  
  
"Okay. See you later, guys. Be really careful. Come on, Chain." Link said, and he and his brother left the prince and princess behind, reaching the half-illusion-half-wall entrance quickly. Link was distracted by a familiar whisper in his mind...  
  
_ Link...are you really here? Or am I imagining things?  
_  
_I'm the one imagining things_, Link thought irritably. Who was this person speaking to him? If they would stop whispering and use a normal voice Link might recognize it, but then that might be too dangerous in this place...Link just hoped it really was a someone, and not just a voice in his head. He and his brother walked quietly down the hall, following the changing walls. It wasn't long before they came to another room, close in appearance to the first, but a bit smaller. Chain observed that his brother looked very stressed, and put a hand on his shoulder. Link smiled back at him, not stopping.  
  
"Don't worry, Link. Zelda and Taig will be fine. So will we." Chain said.  
  
"If you say so," Link said, and hoped it was true. "I've had a lot of bad experiences with bringing people with me on my journeys...but a lot of good ones too, I suppose. You know, I would never forgive myself if one of you got hurt."  
  
"You worry too much, that's your problem. You just need to have some faith in your friends. They have tons of faith in you, and always will."  
  
"Heheh, you're right, Chain. You should be a counselor or something," Link joked. Chain shook his head, laughing. The two of them reached the middle of the room and stopped, looking around. "Well, I thought something might attack us in every room, but I don't see anything in this one." Link said. He was unaware of the black, long-legged monster directly above him.   
  
"Yeah, seems too quiet, doesn't it? Oh well.." Chain said. More monsters were detatching fromthe ceiling and lowering themselves toward the Hylians. As an afterthought of searching, Chain looked up. "Whaaa! Link, look at those!" Link saw them, and quickly pulled Chain with him to the side, dodging one that meant to drop on him. It was a very large, long-legged, sharp-toothed creature. It's four long, boney legs came from its body, which was suspended about ten feet off the ground, and it had a beady-eyed, long-fanged face. It looked vaguely like a spider.  
  
"Sshhhccaaa! Let's kill them, brothers! They are no match for us bladethreads!" The ugly creature hissed as its slightly smaller companions joined it on the ground. All together, there were six of them.  
  
"Bladethread? What kind of a name is that?" Chain asked, looking at the tall black thing.  
  
"W-what? Well what's _your_ name, if you're so smart?" The thing asked in its hissy, scratchy voice.  
  
"Chain. And it's much better than 'bladethread'. You sound like you're a monster made to sew sharp objects onto clothes or something!" Chain said, making the spiders hiss indignantly.   
  
"Are you _arguing_ with the monsters, Chain? Let's just fight them!" Link said impatiently.  
  
"Chain sounds like you're made to tie things up, stupid little boy! And you're the weakest Link!" The spider said, pointing at Link, somehow knowing his name.  
  
"Hey! I'm not the one who insulted your name!" Link said, frowning. Were these monsters sent to kill them or distract them?  
  
"Yes, but you're _linked_ to Chain by your blood....which, uh...will soon be all over the ground! Attack!" Link had to restrain himself from laughing at the stupid comment, because he knew that he fought terribly while laughing. The largest spider thing and three of its companions jumped at Link, and the other two went after Chain, who was already chanting some spells.  
  
Link cut the first two legs off of the spider to reach him the quickest, which was the smallest one. The monster screetched and tumbled past Link, white blood spurting from its cut apendages. Then the two other smaller spiders got on either side of Link, while the largest one watched.  
  
"Yes, kill him, he injured our brother!" The large spider growled.   
  
"Why don't you kill me?" Link asked the spider, wondering why the leaders always hung back and watched their 'brothers' get massacred.   
  
"Yeah, how come you never help us, huh? You scared of the little Hylian?" One spider asked his elder.  
  
"How dare you! I'm not scared of anything!" The big one protested. _This is pathetic_, Link thought. _Did the Dark One really think these ununited creatures could defeat anything?_ Link looked over at Chain, who had frozen one spider thing and was struggling with the second one. Link knew he could beat it, though. The bladethreads were not very strong. Link heard a loud hiss of pain as the large spider slashed a smaller one with a sharp claw on the end of its leg. The smaller two then pounced on it, and Link watched as the larger one went into a chopping frenzy. Before he could control himself, he had killed both of his smaller companions. "You..._you_ did thisssss!" It said, shaking with fury. "You turned my brothers against me!"  
  
"Well, it looks to me like you had no love for them in the first place. Monsters never do." Link said quietly. It was true, it never took much to get monsters to fight eachother.  
  
"I'll kill you! Yes, I'll kill you using the attack for which us bladethreads are named!" The spider opened its big mouth and silvery thread came out, spraying at Link. He hacked through some of it with his sword, but inevitably some got by, and soon Link had web all over his chest. The spider stopped spitting web, but the web on Link was connected to the creature's mouth by a thread. "Let me introduce you to a new kind of pain, Hylian!" The creature yanked on its thread, and the pain that resulted was indeed new. It was bladethread stinging venom on blade-like tendrils of web getting ripped through Link's skin.  
  
"Ahhhh!" Link screamed as all the web was ripped off him, leaving long, painful lacerations filled with stinging fluid. Link's blood looked like little threads themselves, flying through the air as the web left him, and he fell to his knees.  
  
"Gyaahahahhh....How do you like that, cocky little Link?" The spider asked, grinning as well as it could with its deformed mouth.   
  
Chain had summoned a magic spear and killed his spider with it when he looked over at Link, who was about to get pounced on by the largest spider. Chain quickly cast a pressure spell to throw the spider away from Link and ran over to him.   
  
"You okay?" He asked Link as the warrior got to his feet. The spider got up as well, rushing toward the Hylians.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. He's coming back!" Having time to do nothing else, Link threw his body between Chain and the spider beast as it opened its ugly mouth wide and shot more blade webs.  
  
"Link!!" Chain yelled, seeing his brother get slashes all over from having web shot past him. Ribbons of blood followed the web, making it look as if little red threads of webs were coming out of Link. Chain flinched as the threads of red splattered on him. Link fell over, and the large spider started cackling.   
  
"You wont get away with that one, bladethread!" Chain was infuriated and casted a forest blade spell at the blade-loving spider. As Chain chanted, sharp leaves surrounded him, flying on magic wind. Chain pointed at the spider and the blade-leaves rushed forth, giving the bladethread twice as many slashes as it had given Link. The thing screetched and toppled over, dead, and Chain bent over Link.   
  
"Ouch..." Link said, putting his hand over a particularly large slash on his shoulder. "I didn't expect that ignorant spider to have such an advanced attack." Chain helped Link get to his feet, frowning as he discovered his brother had more slashes than he thought.  
  
"I'm lucky my spiders didn't do that to me! Good thing they were dumb, huh? Well, I don't have much experience in healing, but I'll try to heal you anyway." Chain put a hand on Link's biggest wound, concentrating whatever light magic he had on it. Unfortunately, his lack of training rendered the spell ineffective. "Well, I tried. Sorry, bro. Can you walk?"  
  
"Sure, I can walk. I've had worse than this, I'll be fine." Link said, wishing he had gone back to the castle and gotten his gear before entering the temple. It was pretty easy to walk and Link wasn't losing much blood, but it might be difficult for him to fight in his condition. He just hoped he found Zelda and Taig before he found the 'Dark One'. "We'd better keep going and get this over with. Stay close." Link said, an inward fear of being separated from his brother knawing at him. What would he ever do if Chain got killed? Link didn't want to think about it. Link picked up his sword and the two walked on, toward an area that looked like another hallway.   
  
_-What is that pathetic little ball of light jumping around for? It has no reason to be excited...maybe it's gone insane. Solitary confinement for two weeks can do that...but, since its behavior hasn't changed recently, I can only assume Link survived my bladethreads. Rats, I only have one more line of defense, but who am I kidding? I'm actually glad he's making it through my guards. That way, I can kill him myself, yes...and his friends, too. But I'll deal with them later. First, I'll get him all by himself and we'll have a little chat, heheh. I turn to my five strongest shadows and send them forth. Separate the Hero of Time from his brother....-  
  
_ Something unexpected happened as Link and Chain emerged into a new room. The hallway behind them and the one ahead vanished, leaving nothing but miles and miles of watery nothingness to be seen. Apparently, Zelda's spell had worn off. To make matters worse, more shadow warriors appeared from nowhere.   
  
"Is there no end to these things? I'm getting bored of them!" Link declared, drawing the Master Sword. Oddly, there were only three warriors this time. They were all vaguely human-shaped, tall, and faceless, with glowing red eyes. All three drew evil-looking longswords out of nowhere.  
  
"Well, at least they have something more than daggers this time." Chain said, forming an ice ball over his palm. "I bet I can kill two before you do, bro!"  
  
"You're on!" Link said, and rushed at the closest shadow warrior. It ran to the right and Link followed it, but the monster was quick and Link only began to gain on it after they had been running for a few moments. The monster turned around suddenly, cutting at Link's legs. Link jumped but didn't have time to stop himself, and slammed right into the monster, taking them both to the water-covered ground. Link jumped up first and was about to slice the monster in half, when he heard splashing behind him. He turned quickly and brought up his sword just fast enough to block the blow of one of a second shadow monster. The one he had knocked down got to its feet, and Link had to bring his blade around to block another sword strike from the first monster, leaving his back exposed. The second monster tried to take advantage of this, bringing back its blade for a devistating blow. Unfortunately for it Link was faster, and ducked just in time to avoid the second monster's sword. The blade cut into its parter, making the creature screetch and giving it a long slash in its midsection. Link rolled out from between them and jumped up. He expected to see them angry at eachother as he turned around, but to his surprise, they were slashing at him with perfect teamwork. It took a lot of speed to block the rain of blows aimed for Link, and his exhertion was making his wonds bleed more profusely.   
  
"Chain, watch out! These guys are a lot more skilled than the others we've fought!" Link said, struggling to keep up with his enemies' fast pace.   
  
"I noticed!" Chain's voice replied. It sounded strained and Link risked a look behind him, over at Chain. The monster was behind Chain and holding him, trying to cut his throat with its sword! Chain was barely holding it off with both hands on the hilt. The sword was inching closer..."Link!" Chain yelled, feeling cold metal on his neck. Needless to say, Link was distracted by this. He missed parrying the blow of one of the shadow beasts he was fighting, and recieved a large slash across his chest for dropping his guard.   
  
"Eauuggh!" Link screamed as the sharp blade tore through his skin. The slash was deep and Link was thrown off his feet, landing with a splash. A shadow beast quickly knocked the Master Sword out of Link's hands and grabbed the front of his tunic, hauling him to his feet. It then turned him around and put him in a full nelson (for those of you poor people who have never experienced wrestling and don't know what a full nelson is, it's when a person puts both their arms under another persons arms from behind and locks their hands on the back of their neck. It's very hard to get out of without causing a lot of pain to the person doing it...). "Chain, hold on!" Link yelled, struggling violently to get out of the monster's hold. Link could feel the thing's grip loosening, then felt something else much less pleasant. It was the breath going out of him as the second monster kicked him in the gut really hard. "Ugh..." Link gasped to get some air back in him, but the monster wasn't finished. It began puching Link in the gut over and over again, each time a little harder than the last. Link really hoped Chain was doing okay, because he didn't know how to get out of this one.  
  
"Get...off...me!" Chain growled, using all his strength to resist the sword on his neck. How could this monster be so strong?! Chain was using both his hands against its one hand, and still the sword was getting closer to cutting him! Even more miraculous was the fact that the monster's complete strength was not focused on the sword. Its other arm still had the power to squeeze Chain's chest very tightly so he wouldn't escape. Chain started to chant, but the arm around his chest tightened, making it very difficult to talk, much less concentrate. Chain knew he should have learned some non-verbal spells before walking into danger. But, it was too late now. Chain inhaled sharply as the sword cut his skin a bit. It had already been choking him, but now it was drawing blood! "Link!" Where was his brother? Chain looked over and saw Link getting the daylights beaten out of him by two shadow monsters. Now what? _Poor Link...I want to help him, but I can't even get away from this monster!_ Chain coughed, and felt a drop of warm liquid slide down his neck.   
  
Link ignored each flare of pain caused by getting punched by the monster, focusing on the struggling Chain. _I have to help him! In another minute or so, that thing will have cut his head off!_ The very thought enraged the warrior. The black monster holding Link was very surprised when the Hylian found some sudden strength; crouching and leaning forward, pulling it onto his back. The monster let go and tried to get off, but Link grabbed it and slammed it onto the watery ground in front of him. Link turned to Chain and was about to dash over to him, but the other monster launched itself at Link and latched onto his legs. Link tried to pull the thing off, but its spiteful hold would not let him go anywhere. He heard a choked scream from his brother. He had to act; now.  
  
Link picked up the Master Sword and powered it up until it was glowing. He then did something he had never done before. Link executed a stabbing motion at the monster holding Chain, and a scarlet blast of energy left the Master Sword, shooting straight at the beast! The red, fire-like blast reached the monster in a splitsecond, shredding it instantly and burning it to cinders. The monster on Link's legs was frightened by the power of this new technique and it let go, backing away from Link. Its partner, who had gotten up, also backed away; it would not quickly forget how its fellow shadow beast was just cut up and burned by a simple blast. Chain rubbed his neck and smiled gratefully at Link.  
  
"Thanks. I didn't know you could use your sword like that, bro." Chain said simply.  
  
"Neither did I," Link said, bewildered by what he had just done. He hadn't practiced, attempted, or even seen that technique ever before. Link turned to the monsters, ready to do battle with them, only to see them dash past him, toward Chain. "Hey! Get back here, you cowards!" Link shouted, running after them. Unfortunately, Link smacked right into an invisible wall that had suddenly sprung up from nowhere. "Youch!" he said, backing up and rubbing his head. _How'd this wall get here?!_ Link wondered, watching helplessly as the two monsters got closer to Chain. Chain chanted a spell and managed to set one on fire before it reached him. It flailed and dropped to the water to put the fire out. The second one, however, reached Chain before he could conjure a new spell to defend himself with. With all its evil strength, the black beast drove its fist into the pit of Chain's stomach. Chain groaned and fell over, a bit of blood dripping from his mouth.   
  
"Chain!!" Link yelled, pounding on the clear wall separating him and his sibling. The black monster grabbed Chain's collar and began to drag him away, joined by its partner which had successully extinguished all the flames from the little Hylain's spell. "You'll regret this, you monsters!" Link yelled, powering up his sword again. Just as Chain was dragged out of sight and Link was about to attempt to break the wall, something hit him from behind. It was a three-inch-long throwing knife, and it buried itself to the hilt below his right shoulder blade. After a short scream of pain, Link slid to his knees and dropped his sword, still staring at the last spot he had seen his brother. "Chain..." Link murmured, not paying any heed to the thing approaching him from behind. He regretted it when the monster grabbed the hilt of the knife in his back and twisted it. "Eaaaahhh!" The monster enjoyed the Hylian's scream as it forced him downward by twisting the knife. Link finally got a grip on himself and decided to put an end to the shadow's enjoyment. He reached behind and grabbed the shadow's hand, then turned around and sat down. He then leaned back and pulled on the hand to position the monster's body over his own, and kicked it in the stomach as hard as he could. Moaning, the shadow stumbled backwards and Link got to his feet. "Yah!" Link shouted, puching the monster square in the face. In his anger he unknowingly called apon the power of the Platinum Gauntlets, and the monster's head exploded in a puff of smoke.  
  
'ello there, friends! thx for readin, plz review no matter if its flames (reasonable ones) or compliments or constructive criticism. I hope you liked this, cuz I like writing it! keep reading to find out if Link ever sees his brother again, wooooo O.o -Talonclawfange


	3. The Return of the Dark One part 2: 6,7,8

**Section 6  
  
The Dark One is Link!  
**  
Link slowly pulled the bloody knife out of his back and went to retrieve his sword. How was he going to find Chain? He would just have to find another shadow beast and ask it. _Man, I should have asked that last monster before destroying it! I could search aimlessly in this abyss for days and not find_ _Chain..._As if presenting an answer to Link's question, one last shadow appeared in a hallway far in front of Link, in the opposite direction of the invisible wall. Link started to tiredly walk towards it, and to his surprise, it ran away. Link gritted his teeth and ran after it, a trail of slightly bloody water following him. The hallway, rather than looking like watery abyss as Link expected, was completely black. Link kept running for a few moments in darkness, until he came to realize the only sounds he heard were his own splashing and loud breathing. He stopped and listened for the footsteps of the shadow monster and heard nothing. He walked on slowly for a few minutes, following the black hallway in relative silence. As he walked on it became darker, until he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. Link stopped suddenly as he felt rather than saw himself enter another room. He then sensed a prescence to his right and instinctively slashed in that direction with the Master Sword. He felt the sword cut something, then heard the unmistakable screetch of a dying shadow beast._ I'm such an idiot! I just killed the shadow beast that could have told me how to get to Chain!_ Link growled to himself.  
  
Silence. Blackness. Link saw and heard nothing as he stood, wondering what to do next. _All I can do is walk forward and feel for a wall, but this could go on for a long time...should I call for my friends? Maybe I can put light magic in the Master Sword and use it to light my way..._Link knew he probably wouldn't last more than a day with his cuts, all bleeding and turning his tunic red. He thought about bandaging them now, but before Link reached a conclusion, the 'lights' went on. That is, it became possible to see, even though there were no visible sources of light. Link saw before him the same misty abyss...and himself.   
  
"Huh?" Link was surprised to find a mirror in front of him. He hadn't felt a wall...Link brushed his bangs out of his face, and his reflection copied every movement. Yet...there was something different about the reflection. Link gasped and took a step backwards. The reflection was not all cut up, it was perfectly unharmed! The reflection displayed a soul-freezing grin, and Link dropped his sword as the shade visciously kicked his hand and rushed forward.  
  
_-Now Link is mine! The fool stares at me, dumbfounded by my little mirror act. Taking full advantage of his surprise, I grip his throat with my right hand and position myself behind him. I use my left hand to grab his waist and hold him tightly before he can escape, then begin squeezing his neck. It's very satisfying, and I'm careful to crush just the right part of his neck, directly on the windpipe, because it would be no fun if I cut off his blood and made him numb to the pain. Yes, he won't get out of this one. 'I just want to play, Link...' I whisper softly in his ear, hoping to instill fear. I grin silently and lift him up a bit, making him stand on his toes so he can't get any leverage to fight me with. Of course the Hylian struggles against the oncoming suffocation, pulling on my arms with pathetic weakness, but he's no where as strong as me without the use of his gauntlets. His blood feels warm on my skin as it soaks through my tunic...yes, my warriors got him good. He doesn't have a chance.  
  
I grin and squeeze harder, and he's completely silent because I'm cutting off all his air. Sweet revenge! He puts both hands on my strong hand, still trying to pull it off, but his efforts are completely useless. I feel him choke violently, and I enjoy every moment of it. This weak Hylian will never get in my way again. I hold him fast, and he shows surprising stamina, fighting my deadly grip for over a minute...and then he weakens. My anticipation rises as I feel the pulse in his neck slow, and I grip him tighter...He shudders and all struggling efforts cease. I know he will die soon...Well, if I'm going to talk to him, now's the time.-   
_  
Link could feel his body shutting down. _Don't quit on me!_ he peaded, but still his sight darkened and his arms felt very heavy. Time seemed to slow with his pulse.   
  
"Link." One word was all the man had to say, and Link immediately knew who his attacker was. Without whispering and echos the voice was very recognizable - it sounded just like his, but deeper and slightly older. It was laced with a very potent evil. It was Dark Link! But how was that possible? Link had defeated Dark Link and thought he was destroyed. Obviously he was wrong...but how did Dark Link manage to look exactly like Link? Last time he looked like a shadowy, metallic outline of Link. Could he change his apprearance at will? "I have returned to Hyrule...you remember me, don't you, Link?" Dark Link said, smiling and tightening his iron grip, making Link flinch in pain and choke. "I was nothing but a pathetic monster which you carelessly defeated and left for dead...I'm sure you're regretting your stupidity now, aren't you...? You're literally choking on your mistake!" Link's hearing wasn't so great and his mind began to wander (which was very irritating), but he could hear what Dark Link was saying. So, it seemed that Link hadn't done a thorough enough job when he fought Dark Link in the Water Temple before. Link's arms were no longer able to support their own weight, and dropped slowly to his sides. Link couldn't see anymore, so he closed his eyes. Dark Link's voice sounded very far away and distorted, as if under water. "Don't dispair, my friend. You wont be lonely where you're going...your friends will join you shortly." Dark Link drew a dagger from his boot and put it on the side of Link's neck.   
  
Link was on the very edge of consciousness and couldn't feel much anymore, but he felt the tip of the dagger on his neck. He knew he was finished if he didn't so something, and fast. Light magic came to mind. Light magic would definately get Dark Link off him, but Link couldn't just summon it whenever he pleased. He could only channel it into his sword and arrows...sharp things! What if he could channel it into other sharp things as well? Link had never tried to put light magic into a dagger before. It was his only hope. Link's arm did not want to lift at first, but he forced it to, putting a hand on the cold blade poking the side of his throat. To his surprise, he found that he could put light magic in it! He heard a sizzling sound, and Dark Link instantly let him go, screaming and holding his hand.   
  
Link sucked in a sweet breath and fell into the water, then managed to lift himself as his body recovered strength. His neck felt compressed and it was hard to breath, but it was infinately better than what it had felt like moments before. Coughing and breathing unevenly, Link remained on his knees and tried to recover for a moment. He then got to his feet and faced Dark Link, still breathing raggedly and feeling dizzy. Dark Link looked identical to Link. The Dark Hylian's hand was red and bleeding, as if it had been burned by fire. The dagger Link had used to burn Dark Link was under the water on the ground, beside the Master Sword. Link retrieved his sword and held it up at Dark Link threateningly.  
  
"Where's Chain been taken to?" Link asked, his voice hoarse. Dark Link glared at him menacingly.  
  
"Does it matter? You wont be seeing him again until you're both dead." Link tensed up, growling in anger.   
  
"So Dark Link, you're the one who got me in trouble at the castle by trying to kill the King, and stealing the Sword of Darkness! You're the 'Dark One' who controlled Feelock and sent the black assasins after me!"  
  
"Did it take you that long to figure it out, Link?" Before Link's eyes, Dark Link changed into his real self. His skin became darker, and his hair pitch black. All of his clothes turned black too, from his hat to his boots. His eyes turned a murderous shade of red, and his earings turned gold. The last time Link had met Dark Link, the warrior had been all black and silvery, with glowing red eyes. He had been a monster, but now Link thought he looked much more human. Dark Link drew the Sword of Darkness, grinning at his lighter self. His smile was freakier than any Link had seen. It was not giddy, beserking, or joyously ignorant. It was dark and purposeful, calm and happy, blissfully and confidently evil. It was a creepy mix of bloodlusting hate and twisted peacefullness. The mark of perfect insanity.  
  
"I'm sure you must be suprised by the extent of my new powers, Hero of Fools. I am unbelievably strong, I can control minds and summon shadows, I can survive most lethal wounds that would easily kill a normal Hylian, and I can change environments or even my own appearance. I can look like this, like a metallic shadow...or just like you. Was everyone in the castle convinced that the Hero of Time had turned on them?" Dark Link asked with a short, mocking laugh. Link gripped his sword hilt tightly. "But it seems you have gotten stronger too, Link. I thought for sure that if you were in a land far away from Hyrule, without anyone to help you, you would be easy to defeat; especially with a powerful calwot and many shadow warriors at my disposal. I hadn't expected you to help the calwot escape my spell by apealing to its emotions. Very clever indeed. Not to mention you were kicking its tail without the aid of your insect-like fairy friend..." The expression on Link's face changed. _Does Dark Link know where Navi is...?_ "I know I can defeat you here, though. Even if by some crazy chance you kill me, this abyss of water will fade with you in it. If you aren't crushed or dropped to your death by its collapsing, you'll be trapped in it forever if you don't get out quick enough, and you won't."  
  
"Enough of this. Do you have a point to get across before I repay you for all the pain you've caused my friends and I?" Link asked.   
  
"Impatient, aren't you? Don't you want to know where your little ball of light is?" Dark Link asked, eyes narrowing.  
  
"You have Navi?! Where is she?!" Link asked, furious. He had been wondering where Navi was for a long time. At what point of time had she been captured by Link's devious shadow?  
  
"Heh heh..." Dark Link made a gesture and said something inaudiable, and a small glass jar rose out of the floor, hovering in the air before him. There was a dimly glowing, tiny person with wings inside it. Link remembered the tiny voice that had been in his head earlier. Since Navi was his fairy partner, she had certain bonds with him. It was her thoughts he had been hearing.  
  
"Navi!! You'd better let her go, Dark Link..." Link said, staring at his poor fairy partner. The glass jar she was in had one small hole in the cork lid for air, and the area of the jar was not even big enough for her to stretch her wings. She looked terribly unhealthy and sad. She seemed to be saying something, but the jar was magically soundproof.   
  
"The only way to get her out of this magic jar is for me to willingly open it, or you could kill me. But, I doubt you have the power to do that, little Hylian," Dark Link said with a condescending smirk. He gestured upward and the jar rise until it was about forty feet up, then stopped and stayed in the air. "So what are you waiting for? If you beg very nicely maybe I'll open it for you..." Link showed Dark Link what he thought of that idea by swinging his sword at him. Dark Link raised the Sword of Darkness to easily block the blow. "Consider your options, Link. You're already gravely wounded. You can't beat me in this condition. You can at least beg for me to free your fairy before I kill you."  
  
"I don't think so! Your overconfidence will be your downfall." The swordplay began, Link repeatedly slashing at Dark Link, and the Dark Hylian countering with blows of his own that were identical to Link's. It was the same frustrating technique Dark Link had used when they last fought. Link made the mistake of thrusting at Dark Link, and the evil man jumped up on Link's sword. He could only stay there a fraction of a moment or risk being zapped, so he quickly slashed Link's shoulder and backflipped off the sword. Ignoring the slash, Link did a quick, blue-fired spin attack, making his shadow back up and give him some space. Link then tried to jumpslash his adversary, but he simply dodged the slow attack and put a small cut in Link's leg. _He's right...in my condition I'm much to slow to beat him. What can I do? I have to find a way to wound him and bring him down to my speed_... Link remembered from his previous battle that Dark Link had more trouble matching his attacks if he alternated between vertical and horizontal strikes, so Link attacked that way. If Link was at his full speed he might have gotten past the Dark Hylian's defenses, but with a score of lacerations and a hole in his shoulder slowing him down, Link could not muster the needed quickness.  
  
"Pathetic! Is this the extent of your abilities? I was hoping for more satisfaction. It seems my minions did their job too well." Dark Link began slashing at Link, alternating between horzontal strikes, vertical strikes, and quick thrusts. Link parried them all, surprising himself with his accuracy. Dark Link then smiled slightly and did something Link hadn't known he could do - a dark spin attack. After being powered up, the Sword of Darkness spewed dark purple flame-energy, which slammed into Link with jarring force. He flew through the air for ten feet and landed roughly in the water, a nice new bloody horizontal slash on his chest to join the rest. He groaned and staggered to his feet, holding his chest. Dark Link sprang at Link with a powerful jumpslash, and Link was barely quick enough to step aside. Giving the Dark Hylian no time to recover, Link elbowed him in the back and slashed at him in an upward diagonal arc, resulting in a large slash in his side. The force of the blow made the Dark Hylian spin and fall into the water. He got up slowly, holding his side and staring at Link expressionlessly. His hat had fallen off, and Link discovered that the Dark Hylian's hair was the same length as his own, down to the middle of his back.  
  
Dark Link switched to serious mode and invoked the dark powers of his sword, making purple and black energy dance up and down the blade. Link responded by calling forth the evil-repelling powers of his sword, and it shimmered with whitish-blue light. The energy spread into his body as well, massaging him with soft vibrations and making him feel warm. The Hylian and Dark Hylian resumed their battle, alternating slashing and parrying. Each time their swords met, the opposing energies created a rippling shockwave. The wave of power made this an extremely tiring way to battle, but both Hylians continued slashing at eachother with amazing zeal. Finally Link aimed a very strong slash at Dark Link's chest and the Dark One blocked and pushed his sword against Link's, turning the swordplay battle into one of strength. Link and Dark Link stared into eachother's eyes as they forced their swords together, each one attempting to push the other back and off-balance. White-hot shards of light sprang from the meeting place of the blades, much hotter and brighter than ordinary sparks. The swords refused to meet any longer. The energy between them exploded. Both Hylian and Dark Hylian were thrown to their backs, and their swords were ripped out of their hands, flying far behind them.   
  
Dark Link jumped up and ran at Link, who was just getting to his feet. Dark Link punched at Link, but the Hylian side-stepped and grabbed the Dark Hylian's arm. He then put the arm over his shoulder and flung Dark Link over his back, slamming him into the watery ground. Dark Link kicked Link's feet from the ground, tripping him. Then they both got to their feet, glaring at eachother and breathing hard. Link threw a punch at his shadow but the man caught it and punched the side of Link's face hard enough to make him stumble. He then hit the other side with suprising force, making the Hylian completely lose his balance and fall to the ground. Dark Link wasn't finished and grabbed Link's collar, dragged him to his feet, and punched his face again. Link didn't like hand-to-hand combat, and was thinking about his sword as he staggered backwards from the punch.   
  
"Your blood will turn the waters red!" Dark Link shouted, and punched Link extremely hard in the stomach before the Hylian could recover. Link yelled in pain and doubled over, holding his stomach. A bit of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Grinning in evil success, Dark Link kicked Link's face, which hurled him onto his back, under the watery surface of the floor. Link accidentally opened his mouth under water and sat up, coughing. Dark Link decided to take a seat on the Hylian's stomach, pinning him. Link leaned up, keeping his head as far away from the water as possible, and Dark Link put his hands on Link's shoulders, pushing downward. Link looked up at the evil man's face, and discovered he was wearing the same creepy, insane, I'm-going-to-kill-you smile as earlier. Link glanced sideways to the left and saw his sword, much too far away to be reached. He put both his hands on Dark Links' and leaned forward with all his strength, but still Dark Link was forcing him closer to the water. "Heh heh...You're so cute when you struggle," Dark Link said, just to freak Link out. It worked, making it much easier to push him under.   
  
Link held his breath and struggled violently, but the strength of Dark Link's arms and the weight on him was difficult to move. The Hylian belatedly remembered that he could now use his gauntlets' strength without wearing them. But still, he couldn't use them now that he couldn't take a deep breath (or any breath at all for that matter). Link kept struggling, but came to realize that there was no way Dark link would budge unless Link wounded him. Link reached up and took hold of the front of the Dark Hylian's shirt. Pulling him closer, Link socked him in the mouth. Dark Link was very strong, but not punch-proof. While he was distracted by putting a hand on his bleeding lip, Link managed to shove him off. Link rolled to the left, and in one smooth motion, grabbed his sword and sprung to his feet.   
  
"Blast...I was really enjoying that. You ruined my fun." Dark Link said, feining a hurt look.  
  
"I'll ruin more than that!" Link said said threateningly, raising his blade. "Eh...but aren't you going to pick up your sword first?" Link asked, hesitating. For some annoying reason the little voice inside that told him 'fighting a warrior without a weapon is unacceptable' could not be ignorred. Dark Link frowned.  
  
"My, you're not very unsportsmanlike at all. Well, fine. I'll go get it so I can end your pathetically good life." Dark Link ran to get the Sword of Darkness. He found his dagger and hat on the ground and picked those up, too; then charged at Link and cut at his legs. Link jumped and brought his sword down, aiming for Dark Link's shoulder, but he was too fast and dodged it. Dark Link decided to punish Link for his slowness, and while his sword was down, kicked him in the throat. Link put both hands on his neck and coughed deeply, falling to his knees. Dark Link had kicked him pretty hard, and it took a few moments of choked gasping to recover. Dark Link simply hung back and smiled, every wheeze music to his pointy ears. When he decided Link had had enough time to recover, he raised his sword and tried to cut Link's head off. Link had seen it coming. He snatched his sword and backed out of the evil sword's way, then cut Dark Link's legs, giving him a couple small and painful slashes. Link was tired of the Dark Hylian's underhanded tactics and started attacking ferociously. Dark Link struggled to block the quick succession of blows, amazed that Link could still move so fast after being wounded a bunch. He growled as Link penatrated his defense and gave him a slash across his chest. He really wanted to kill him.  
  
Dark Link aimed a slash at Link's neck and Link jumped back, barely dodging it. The strike did cut him, but not lethally. The small cut dripped a bit in the water, and Link was grateful for his stamina. If he hadn't had the energy to jump back and that blade had cut an inch deeper...Dark Link slashed at him again, but Link parried it and shoved Dark Link's sword back with his, throwing him off-balance. The Hylian then proceeded to put a large slash in Dark Link's upper left arm, his sword arm. The Dark Hylian dropped his sword and backed up, his right hand putting pressure on the deep laceration.  
  
"I hate you. I'll kill you. I'll kill your friends." Dark Link threatened, and Link rushed forward to attack. However, he stopped mid-attack, remembering that Dark Link had no sword. "Predictable fool!" Dark Link growled, and gripping Link's outstretched arm, he put it over his shoulder and threw Link over his back, the very same attack Link had done to him earlier. Only this time there was a chunk of stone ruins where Link was thrown, and Link landed roughly on the broken slab of building. From his neck down he was submerged, but the nice thing about the stone was that it had kept his head out of the water. Dark Link immediately put a rough boot on his slashed up chest to hold him down, then drew his dagger and channeled dark energy into it, also the very same thing Link had done (except with light magic). He then placed it on Link's lower left chest and pushed it in slowly, listening to Link's screams with insane joy. Blackish-red blood spilled from the wound, turning the surrounding water deep scarlet. Dark Link had meant to stab Link's heart, but it just so happened he missed by a fraction of an inch and hit a lung. The dark energy was excruciating. It filled Link's whole body and soul with searing pain, and the Hylian ripped the dagger out of himself as quickly as possible. Then he called on the Platinum Gauntlets and punched Dark Link off him.  
  
Link didn't know the strength of the gauntlets. Dark Link was hurled thirty feet through the air and landed with a loud splash. Link managed to find the strength to shakily raise himself and limp over to the Master Sword. Though the pain was burning every inch of him and Link could barely breathe, he retained just enough concentration to pick up the sword and call on its magic. The incredibly wonderful-feeling light power flowed into the wound, destroying the evil magic. It was still a grevious wound, though, and it was difficult for Link to stay on his feet. Dark Link finally got up, and Link was surprised at the damage. There was a deep, bloody punch mark on Dark Link's face, with red smeared all over the side of his head. It was a miracle that he hadn't broken Dark Link's jaw! But actually, it was more of a curse. Link and Dark Link stared at eachother, then, Chain showed up.   
  
**Section 7  
  
A Temporary Conclusion, a Shaky Reunion**  
  
Link's brother walked out of a passageway to Link's right and far away, and Link turned toward him, amazed.  
  
"Chain, you're okay!" Link yelled, and coughed a bit; blood dripping down his chin. His lung was going to slowly fill with blood at this rate. He was about to say more, than noticed a murderous look on Dark Link's face. "Chain, run! Quick, get out of here!" But it was too late. Dark Link cast some sort of spell that made a dark rope rise up from the ground under Chain, wrapping around his leg and holding him in place. Chain was already wounded and couldn't pull it off. Link ran/limped toward his brother, but Dark Link got there much quicker. Banishing the rope, he got behind Chain and held him still with one arm, while the other grabbed his face and twisted it far to the right. "Stop!" Link yelled, and Dark Link froze, smiling evily.   
  
"Uh-oh, if I move his neck a little bit this way, it'll probably break..." He said quietly, twisting. Link remained where he was, knowing that if he moved, Chain was finished. Dark Link drew his sword and brought it close to Chain, but Chain bravely kicked it out of his hand. "Arg! Why you little..." Dark Link pulled his head back a bit more, making Chain and gasp in pain and grimace. "Dont even think about casting a spell, or I'll snap your neck like a twig..."  
  
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!! I'm the one you want, Dark Link!!" Link shouted angrilly, the sight of Chain in such peril making him burn with rage. It was amazing that he could even shout; blood was tinting the water around him because of his punctured lung.  
  
"Hm, did I strike a sensitive nerve, Link? Seems you really don't want me to hurt this wisp of a boy here." Dark Link said, the familiar evil smile playing on his lips. Link glared at him fiercely.   
  
"What do you want?" Link asked, thinking that satisfying him might convince him to let go of Chain. Dark Link grinned widely.  
  
"Hold the Sword of Darkness." He comanded.  
  
"What?" Link didn't like the sound of that.  
  
"Touch it or your brother dies!" The Dark Hylian said, pulling back a bit just to make Chain flinch. Link flinched as well.  
  
"Okay! Just stop that." Link said. He sheathed the Master Sword and limped over to the Sword of Darkness. Its red gem glowed in anticipation. Link hesitated but a moment, then crouched down and put his right hand above the sword. Even from this distance, its evil was painful. Link wanted to save Chain. He gripped the hilt.  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!" Holding the hilt of the evil sword was twice as painful as getting cut by it. Link felt ill-intentioned forms try to invade his mind, and his body was filled with so much black pain it was like being numb. It was the will of the sword, trying to either take over him or drive him insane. Link tried to throw the sword down, but his hand wouldn't open. It was destroying his palm, already little streams of blood were trickling into the water.  
  
"Link!!" Chain screamed, seeing the sword assault him. Dark Link was distracted enough that Chain was able to shift his position and elbow him in the stomach. Chain wasn't particularly strong, but it hurt enough to make Dark Link mad. He jumped back and round-house kicked Chain's head, knocking him down onto a slab of ruined building and rendereing him unconscious. Dark Link then interestedly watched Link try to pry the Sword of Darkness from his own bleeding hand.   
  
"Stupid sword...let go of me!!" Link yelled. It was pretty funny to Dark Link to see Link tell a sword to let him go when it looked like he was the one holding it, and he began laughing. Link's mind could only see blackness and evil, and he thought his body might explode if it took any more of this. This felt worse than being near death...it felt like he was near utter anihalation of his existance. Weak from the black energy burning him, Link stomped on the blade of the sword and ripped his hand off the hilt. He then collapsed with a groan, shaking convulsively and gasping for breath, almost not strong enough to hold his head above water. Dark Link strode to the Sword of Darkness and picked it up, looking down at his lighter, weaker (in his view) self. Link was holding his right wrist; his whole palm looked torn up and burnt and painted with blood. Dark Link smiled and calmly placed his booted foot on the hand. Link grimaced but couldn't do anything about it. He was still uncontrollably shivering in pain from the black power of the evil blade he had held. Dark Link held his sword about one foot above Link's face, point down.   
  
"And now the weakest Link dies." The Dark Hylian said simply. Suddenly he was thrown forward and off Link, a barage of sharp leaves cutting up his back. He tripped and went face down in the water, then got up and slowly turned around, glowering at Chain, who had of course been the source of the attack. "You want to die, too? I'll be glad to help you accomplish your goal." Dark Link had quite a few wounds, not the least of which were the new slashes on his back, but he dashed suprisingly swiftly to Chain and gripped his neck. "Because you're such a pain in the neck...I'll give you one." Chain choked and put both hands on Dark Link's in an effort to pull the strong thing off, and Dark Link raised his sword to finish him. Unluckily for Dark Link, Link had been watching, and his anger and desire to protect his brother had just boiled over. Link leapt to his feet and yanked his sword out of its sheath. Imediately the sword was shining with a greenish-bluish-whitish light, which spread up Link's arm and all over his body. Finding some strange inner abilities he had never tapped in to, Link easily jumped over the twenty feet of ground between him and Dark Link. He brought the Master Sword down in a powerful diagonal strike, giving Dark Link a deep, light-filled slash down the side of his body, from his shoulder down to his thigh. Screaming in terrible pain, Dark Link was hurled to the ground, away from Link and Chain.   
  
"Are you okay?" Link asked his little brother, who was massaging his throat.   
  
"Yeah, I'm okay.." Chain looked up at his brother's face in amazement. "Link, you're glowing..." Link didn't have time to respond; the Dark One was rising. _He_ was now shaking with the effort it took to get to his feet, a hand on his lacerated side. He spit some blood and smiled creepily at Link.   
  
"An angel, a winged angel...you make me sick. You want to play with the heavy artillary? I'll play with you..." Dark Link's sword had dropped next to where he had landed, and he picked it up. The light magic faded from his wound and he and his sword did the opposite of glowing. They sucked the light out of the air around them, with pure dark magic. Link and Dark Link lunged forward, staring into eachother's eyes. Deep, beautiful blue locked on to empty, murderous red. Then their swords clashed. It made a shockwave that threw Chain off his feet, and the poor Hylian put an arm over his head to protect him from the next emensely powerful wave. Link and Dark Link remained locked in battle for the next few minutes, furious, jagged pieces of energy flying from their blades and disturbing the water around them. They began to attack and parry at a very fast rate, creating so much energy that Chain couldn't watch. Then, abruptly, it stopped. Chain heard gasp choked with fluid. Was that Link? He couldn't tell which warrior was wounded. As the light faded he lowered his arm, fearing the worst...but his fears were not confirmed. Link and Dark Link stood facing eachother. The Master Sword was stuck through the right side of Dark Link's stomach.  
  
Dark Link's breath gurgled from the blood in his throat and he sunk to his knees, his head bowing. Link pulled his sword out slowly. At first, he was terrified. Had he killed Dark Link? Then he remembered what Dark Link had said about surviving most lethal wounds that would kill a Hylian. Had he been bluffing?  
  
"Somewhere far away..." Dark Link coughed mid-sentence, his voice thick with pain. "...we will...meet again, Link." Dark Link and the Sword of Darkness began to fade. Their black outlines dissappeared out of the land of Hyrule, the evil Hylian's voice echoing on the still air.  
  
The aura around Link faded as well, and his former pain returned. Groaning, Link fell over.   
  
"Link! Man, are you okay? You did it!" Chain leaned down and put an arm around Link's shoulders to support him. Chain heard glass breaking and looked up. Directly above him, a jar had shattered, and a little ball of light with wings drifted down. Link was a little busy trying to breathe, so Chain caugth the small thing in his hand. "Whoa, it's a fairy..." Chain muttered.  
  
"Fairy? Is that you, Navi?" Chain held the fairy up to Link's face and she hugged his cheek, crying. She was just as unhealthy-looking as Link, and they were both shaking with weakness and fatigue. It was a pathetic, heart-warming sight. "I missed you, my partner." Link said.  
  
"Yeah." Navi said, not needing to say anything else. She crawled into the folds of Link's hat.   
  
"Let's get out of here," Link said, trying to rise. He stood up, swayed a moment, then would have fallen if Chain didn't support him. Chain took Link's arm and put it behind his neck and over his shoulder, helping Link walk. They walked out the way Chain had come, because Chain said it led all the way back to the room he had been dragged out of by the shadow monsters.  
  
"How did you manage to live through getting captured by the shadows?" Link asked quietly.  
  
"Well, I woke up when they were pulling me along in the water and I got out of their grasp, then cast some slowing spells on them. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that before! It was very effective, and I was able to defeat them both. I wandered around for a while until I heard some yelling and found my way to where you and that demon were."  
  
"Excellent. Nice work defeating them, Chain." Link said, his blood-encrusted lips smiling.  
  
"No...I've been nothing but a burden to you...getting captured by those things and then getting threatened by Dark Link..."  
  
"Are you kidding? I would be dead right now if you hadn't come along. Friends can be very stressful to bring along on adventures, but I've come to realize that I lean heavily on them. I couldn't have done it without you or Zelda or Taig. Your help is invaluable to me. Thanks for coming with me." Link said, sounding very tired and turning very pale as he choked on blood. The Hylians hadn't noticed, but a dark trail of blood-tinted water was following them.  
  
"Your welcome." Chain said. Link suddenly shuddered and went limp, and the sudden increase of weight almost caused Chain to drop him. "Link? Are you alright, Link?!" The warrior was unconscious. "Link, hang on! You can't die yet! We'll find Zelda and she can heal you! Don't give up!" Chain heaved Link unto his back. He hadn't known his brother was so heavy! Link was not a light Hylian. Chain trudged along, listening carefully to his brother's slow, shallow breathing. _Don't stop breathing_...Chain prayed, using all his strength to hold up the Hero of Time and walk.   
  
As he walked on, the formerly sturdy, abyss-shrouded walls began to blacken and collapse. What was was going on? Was the place going to cave in on them? Chain gasped as a black hole opened before him from the floor simply falling into nothingness. Water rushed into it and Chain walked by, trying to increase his pace. For ten long minutes he walked along, breathing heavily from the strain. Pieces of floor dropped away and ceiling and wall fell, and there were only a few more places with deceptive watery wasteland illusion still on them. Chain heard nsound of living things like Taig or Zelda and was completely lost because of the altering landscape. Water was rushing and Link's breath was slowing. Time was passing and walls were shifting. Chain was tiring and hope was lessening. A soft voice lightened the harshness of it all.  
  
**Section 8  
  
Escape the Temple!**  
  
"Chain! Link! Where are you?" It was Zelda's voice. Silently thanking whoever was watching out for him, Chain broke into a run, calling to Zelda. His legs felt like they were about to fall off as he turned a corner and found her. She was standing next to Taig in her Sheik clothes, and they were both unharmed. "Chain! Thank goodness we found you!" She gasped in shock as she looked at Link. The warrior's blood was soaking Chain's back, and he was still unmoving. "Link! Is he..."  
  
"I think he's still alive." Chain said, kneeling down and putting Link on the ground. The ground was no longer submerged in water; it had all drained away through holes in the floor. Chain lifted Link's wrist, feeling for a pulse. "Yeah, he's fi...wait..." Chain held his breath for several tense moments. Was he feeling a pulse? He thought he was, but it was so very faint he wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not. Sheik ran over and kneeled, placing both hands on Link's red chest. Her hands glowed a soft white, and the magic flowed into Link, healing most of his wounds and restoring most of his blood. By the time she was done, he had only a few scratches and bruises but still hadn't moved.   
  
"Link, please wake up..." Zelda leaned over him and put a hand on his cheek. His eyes flickered open and slowly focused.   
  
"Hello, princess." He said, smiling at her pleasantly. She smiled back, not needing words to express her joy, and stood up. Chain offered Link a hand. He took it and got up. "Ohhh, my head hurts..." Link said, putting a hand on it. But, this was not the time to worry about it. The building was dissappearing around them. "Thanks for healing me, Zelda. Thanks for helping me, Chain...and Taig...glad to see you! Let's get out of this place!" Everyone nodded and Link dashed down the hall, his friends and brother following. They had to dodge several holes opening in front of them, simply running in the general direction that they thought led out.   
  
"Link, wait! I remember this place. We have to go this way!" Taig shouted, pointing down a branching, disintegrating hallway.  
  
"Alright. C'mon, guys!" Link and the other two Hylians ran after Taig, trusting in his dragon memory. It felt strange... running around in a warping, darkening, collapsing place that didn't really exist. They knew they were supposed to be in the Water Temple, but nothing looked familiar or real. Taig heard a loud cracking sound above and stopped running, looking up. The ceiling was shifting, breaking free of whatever was holding it up. The Hylians also stopped and looked up, at the huge thing they knew would come crashing down. It would have been easy to run out of the way if it were a piece of ceiling, but it seemed like the whole thing would break.   
  
"I can't stop that!" Zelda yelled worriedly over the loud cracking and grinding noises. _Even a dragon prince would be crushed by that huge slab of rock, or whatever it is...I don't know what it's made out of, but it looks heavy!_ Taig thought.  
  
"Run!" He yelled, but Link put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"No, don't run! Get close together, next to me!" He said loudly.  
  
"What? We'll all be killed!"  
  
"Have a little faith, Taig! I can protect us!" His voice was nearly drowned out by the ceiling finally giving out. As it began to fall, dragon and Hylians gathered next to the Hero of Time. The Master Sword flared up with a large amount of red energy. Link made a stabbing motion at the huge, black thing falling down, and the red energy zoomed off his sword, tearing into it. There was a huge explosion and the sound of tons of mass slamming into the floor, then silence as the rubble settled. Link and his friends stood in a hole in the fallen roof, made by Link's blast. All around them, huge pieces of black stone lay in ruins.  
  
"That was scary." Zelda said, and Chain nodded.   
  
"Hah! I knew all the long that Link could do that! The Great Taig just knows these things!" The dragon said loudly.  
  
"You're not fooling anyone. Give it a rest, Taig." Chain said, and Taig glared at him.   
  
"This isn't the time for that, guys! If we don't get out of here quick, Dark Link said we'll be sealed here forever." Link took off running again, Zelda and Chain following close behind. Taig brought up the rear, still a little irritated at Chain. None of them stopped to look up, but if they had, they would have seen an empty space of blackness, holding nothing and leading to Dark Link's world. All the black holes in the floor lead to Dark Link's world. A misty dimension was dissappearing from the Water Temple, collapsing and taking anything with it that it could. The Hylians and dragon prince ran on.   
  
_We have to run faster! If we don't get out of here, all our efforts will have been in vain._..Link thought urgently. He was quite tired, but made his body move faster. Unfortunately, a huge, gaping black chasm was opened under all three Hylians as the floor fell away. Taig acted fast. As the floor beheath the Hylians vanished, he lunged at their feet, his strong muscles making him shoot like a big, red bullet. He got under them and spread his wings, flapping and getting above the hole.   
  
"Wow, that was close!" Link said, holding onto Taig's shoulders and looking down into the pit of nothing.   
  
"Okay, maybe you really are great, Taig!" Chain admitted.   
  
"That's right! The Great Taig to the rescue! What would you Hylians do without me?" Taig flew to the other side of the chasm and landed (he had excersized a lot in the past months and was now eaisly strong enough to carry all three). "Zelda, remember when you told me you only have enough mana to cast one small spell right now because you used it up against the shadows we fought and healing Link? Cast a haste spell on me! I know where we are, I can get us out of here!" Zelda quickly did what Taig said, using the last bit of her regenerated magic to make Taig super speedy. "Hold on, Hylians!" Taig yelled, and dashed down the hall, all three people on his back clinging to his back so they wouldn't fly off. The dragon was extremely fast with the spell on, and flew over many holes and under chunks of falling ceiling, his stong body easily bearing the weight of three humans. After about three minutes of arduous dashing, the scenery abruptly changed. Taig came to a wall of mist and plunged into it, then skidded to a stop (The Hylians almost fell off from the abruptness), not able to see anything. "W-what now? Are we trapped forever?" The dragon asked. He backed up to where he thought he had last seen collapsing building, but there was nothing other than more mist.  
  
"If we are, there's nothing we can do about it. If we're not, we need to hurry! I suggest we keep moving." Link said. Taig nodded and ran ahead, but his haste spell was fading. It had not been a very powerful one because Zelda had used her power to heal Link earlier. Ahead, there seemed to be a light. It was more like white fog, but it was something to shoot for, so Taig ran at it. He was slowed down to his normal speed, but he managed to catch the shrinking light. It wasn't a light at all, it was a hole! Taig quickly leapt through it before it closed. The Hylians and dragon were suprised to find themselves in the Water Temple. They were right next to the entrance. Taig looked behind him wonderingly. There was a peice of mist floating in the air which soon faded. Then there was nothing but the temple. It was a nice, nostalgic place to Link, but he was eager to get out and get back to the castle, where he could feed Navi and help her get her strength back.  
  
"Wow, I bet that last bit of mist was the dimension closing. We just barely got out!" Zelda said. All three Hylians thanked Taig then went silent, hearing a whisper from nowhere.  
  
"-_We will cross swords again, Link_...-" All was silent and the three left the temple. _Yes we will, Dark Link, and I look forward to it!_ Link thought as he and his companions returned home, flying over the beautiful Hyrule field.

The sun was dipping behind the horizon, flaring in brilliance before it was completely gone. The bright reds, oranges and pinks spread on the clouds above were being watched by two Hylians. Zelda and Link stood together on the balcony of Zelda's room, reflecting on their battles.  
  
"So, Link...you drove your sword through him. Do you think he's never coming back? He should be dead...."  
  
"Because he's kindof a shade, I think he survived by leaving this demension. I think he's dead here, but alive somewhere else. I know that sounds wierd, but I think it's true. He said we would meet again...does that mean I'll leave this dimension someday?" Link thought on it, wondering what kind of adventure would await him in a new world.  
  
"Are you kidding? How could you possibly travel dimensions? We don't even know if they exist! All we know is that in this universe, there are other worlds like the Sacred Realm and Termania. But, they are too close to us to actually be sepparate dimensions, aren't they?"  
  
"I dunno. After I beat Ganon's Shadow in the Forest Temple, he 'sent it to the gap between demensions'. They must exist...oh, I'm just confusing myself. Anyway, the point is, I don't think Dark Link is ever going to be seen in Hyrule again."  
  
"I hope you're right," Zelda said, inching closer to Link. "Beautiful sunset, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah." Link said, oblivious to her inching. She inched until she was right up against him, then he looked over to her. "Eh...what are you doing? Cold or something?"   
  
"Yeah." Zelda said, resting her head on her hands and gazing at Link. _His eyes are so blue and pretty,_ She thought._ They remind me of the sacred realm, of the Ocarina of Time_...  
  
"Well, the sunset's over. Guess we should go inside." Link said, and quickly walked into the castle. Zelda watched him go, not moving. She made an unpleasant face. _Foiled again! Will that guy ever show any loving emotions?_ She didn't know that while she was admiring Link's eyes, he had been doing the same thing. Zelda looked up at the stars, feeling frusterated and lonely.

Hello there . thanks so much for readin, and plz review! btw I like to respond to everyone who reviews, so plz sign in or put your author name so I can contact you. Hehehe, how many of you thought the Dark One was going to be Ganondorf? mwahahaa. But don't worry, he'll make his apprearance soon enough. As usual contact me if you want pictures of the fic and I'll tell you how to access them on deviantart. Preview of the next story? oh, all right. After helping rebuild a shop, Link goes with a friend to the Ethereal Forest on a mission for the King...and something terrible happens to his friend and himself. Before anyone can blink, Hyrule is thrust into a war against a blackness that would envelope them all. Bye, now -Talonclawfange


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